Rockstar fires union workers ahead of GTA VI, Take-Two argues staff engaged in "gross misconduct"

Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar Games has fired over 30 staff members from its offices based in the UK and Canada, with the company accused of union busting.

The details:

• As reported by Bloomberg, the employees who were fired from the studio were all members of the same Discord server dedicated to forming a union at Rockstar, with some of those affected already union members. While Take-Two has stated that the 30+ employees were fired for “gross misconduct,” the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) believes that the decision is an act of union-busting.
• In a post to social media, the IWGB called out Rockstar directly and confirmed that it was ready to fight for the affected workers. Speaking with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, union president Alex Marshall referred to the firings as "flagrant contempt for the law, and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions, [which] is an insult to their fans and the global industry."

• Rockstar has earned a bad rap over the years due to its intense crunch culture and decisions that have drawn criticism from its employees. Back in 2018, around the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, Schreier revealed the significant time crunch that developers faced in order to complete the game by the deadline. Thankfully, the studio has since taken steps to alleviate the crunch, including delaying the release of GTA VI, but it has faced backlash for its back-to-office mandate, aimed at remote employees.