Rockstar's Union-Busting Battle: Legal Stumbles and Fallout

Rockstar's GTA 6 studio faces union war: Legal showdowns, covert monitoring claims, and employees fleeing the UK.

A UK tribunal denied interim pay for 30+ fired Rockstar employees, sparking a legal firestorm. The decision has forced some to leave the country, upending families and careers.

"The real world consequences of this are forcing valuable people to leave this country, upending their families and destroying their lives..." said a union statement.

Rockstar cited "gross misconduct" for the dismissals, but the union argues procedural violations—including no disciplinary meetings, delayed appeals, and covert monitoring—render the firings unlawful.

"Comments relied on by Rockstar... were obtained without the knowledge of employees using a private union Discord," an anonymous ex-employee alleged.

Over 200 Rockstar employees signed a condemnation letter, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the dismissals "deeply concerning." The tribunal explicitly clarified that denying interim pay does not imply guilt, but the union remains defiant: "We are emerging from this hearing... feeling bolstered in our claims that these firings were not just deeply unjust but also plainly unlawful."