Rockstar Games says it didn’t fire employees for attempting to form a union. Rather, the studio behind Grand Theft Auto 6 says that staff let go were done so for leaking company information.
In a new report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the employees were giving out company secrets in a forum with non-Rockstar staff. This led to more than 30 people losing their jobs.
“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” a Rockstar spokesperson told Schreier. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
What Was The Union’s Response?
It just so happens, however, that everyone who was let go also took park in a private union chat on Discord. The only people outside of Rockstar involved in the chat, they say, were labor organizers.
The president of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, Alex Marshall, said that Rockstar was simply “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice. Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA VI, and that they’re prioritizing union-busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”
Insider Gaming has reached out to Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive for comment on the situation. Should a response be received, it will be added to this story. In the meantime, Take-Two Interactive is preparing for its latest quarterly earnings report on November 6.
What do you think of Rockstar’s response to the allegations against it, and its claim that staff was talking about company secrets? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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