Grand Theft Auto makers accused of union-busting after firing employees in Canada, U.K.

The accompany slow the Grand Theft Auto games fired thomas more than 30 employees endure hebdomad in what a union leader called an egregious example of union-busting, with some effects being felt in Canada.

Bloomberg reported last week that Rockstar Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive Software, terminated 34 employees in the U.K. And Canada.

News of the firings came shortly before an earnings call with Take-Two, where it was announced Rockstar's upcoming and highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI had been further delayed and is now scheduled to launch in November 2026. This follows a previous delay, which pushed its initial release date from late 2025 to May 2026.

The IWGB said all of the employees were part of a private trade union chat group, and were either members of the union or attempting to unionize within the company.

“Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry,” IWGB president Alex Marshall said in a statement. “This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.”

A spokesperson for Rockstar initially only said the employees were fired for "gross misconduct," but days later said they were leaking company secrets with people outside the company.

The IWGB refuted those accusations, saying, “workers only communicated in private and legally protected trade union channels and did not leak any information publicly.”

Organizers with the IWGB led protests outside Rockstar and Take-Two's offices in the U.K. Earlier this week. According to GamesIndustry.biz, employees described the fired employees being "marched out of the building" with little warning or explanation, followed by "outrage, loss, grief" among those laid off and workers who remained.

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada, which represents video game developers and publishers in Canada, declined to comment.

"We see an industry of creative talented workers who are tired of being overworked, and frustrated by huge differences in pay often related to gender, and a lack of job security and worker voice," said Carmel Smyth, president of media workers union CWA Canada, which has worked to help organize game developers in the past.

"A good employer would be addressing the problems instead of firing people."

Carolyn Jong, a member of Game Workers Unite Montreal, said this situation appeared to be "a pretty clear-cut case of union-busting."

She said moves like this can have "a chilling effect" on other games developers, "to sort of scare workers and send the message that ... If you exercise your legally protected right to organize, you could be next." Jong also hoped this story can help draw attention to other cases of union crackdowns in the industry.

"This is really making the news because it's a large studio, because Grand Theft Auto is such a massive franchise. But this happens at smaller studios, too, all the time," she said.

On Thursday, the IWGB formally issued claims of unfair dismissal against Rockstar, adding that the gaming company "declined" to meet with the union.

"We are confident that what we've seen here is plain and simple union-busting, and we will mount a full legal defence with our expert group of caseworkers, legal officers and barristers," Marshall said, according to a report from Gamesindustry.biz.

"Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company's contractual clauses do not supersede U.K. Law."

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