An alleged Rockstar Games employee has claimed that morale at the company is “at rock bottom” amid its firings of union members.
The anonymous Rockstar Games employee took to the GTAForums to reveal what they describe as a “devastating wave of illegal firings” targeting union workers across the company’s UK and Canada-based studios. Their information was promptly verified by the site’s staff. According to the post, 34 employees were dismissed last week, 31 in the UK and 3 in Canada, under what the employee calls “false pretenses of gross misconduct” related to alleged Discord activity.
The whistleblower, who claims to be a long-time Rockstar Games staff member and union representative, said that HR summoned employees to brief “friendly chats” only to hand them termination letters. Many were reportedly denied union representation, a violation of UK labor law, and escorted from the premises within minutes. Others working remotely allegedly received abrupt two-minute calls informing them of their dismissal.
“These are very senior artists, animators, QA testers, designers, programmers and producers. Including Leads,” the post reads. “Some of these members were off sick, recovering from surgery or on paternity leave. Fired without pay, losing their careers and putting them into hardship in the lead up to Christmas, and even potentially losing their VISAs to work in the UK.” The employee insists that the private Discord server in question “wasn’t public. It was a private Discord group that only contained R* employees and the IWGB Union officials,” and that “the only ever discussion was around unionisation efforts and the working conditions at R*.”
The timing, they argue, is no coincidence. Just a week prior, the union reportedly surpassed the 10% membership threshold needed to seek formal recognition and begin collective bargaining. “This was union busting and nothing else,” the post asserts. The anonymous author describes the current atmosphere inside Rockstar as “fearful” and “deflated,” with morale at an all-time low. The IWGB Union is reportedly pursuing legal action and demanding the reinstatement of the terminated staff. “This fight is critical,” the post concludes. “If Rockstar can get away with this, it sets a dangerous precedent for every game developer who dares to organize.”
A fundraiser has been launched to support the dismissed employees. More details here.
