Just as Rockstar Games gets ready for its hearing at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal today, the company has issued a statement regarding the union-busting allegations it has been facing from the Independent Workers of Great Britain union. Speaking to IGN, a spokesperson for the studio noted that the company is going to do its best to defend itself from claims of union-busting, and reaffirmed the company’s position on why it had fired 31 of its employees last year.
“Rockstar Games’ position has been clear and consistent throughout. Individuals across the UK and Canada were dismissed for gross misconduct following the sharing of confidential company information, not because of alleged trade union membership or activity. We reject the claims and will defend them vigorously before the tribunal.”
The tribunal hearing will go on until October 16th. The workers who were fired, kicking off allegations of union-busting, are seeking reemployment at the studio, and failing that, compensation, depending on the findings in the hearings. Former Rockstar Games employee and member of the IWGB union, Jason Lewis, spoke about finally getting to the truth after almost an entire year of fighting.
“For almost a year, the truth about what happened to us has been buried by Rockstar and surrounded by speculation,” he said in a statement. “Now we finally get the chance to put it on the record. None of us imagined that talking to each other about our working conditions would turn our lives upside down and catapult us into the centre of a global media storm. As the world prepares for the release of GTA 6, we are reliving the heartbreak of being thrown out of a project we poured so much of our lives into. We lost our jobs, our income, our community, and the chance to see the game through to release after spending years helping to build it. It was devastating.
“We have fought tooth and nail to get to this point, not just to be able to win justice for ourselves, but to draw a line in the sand for any employer that thinks it can attack workers for unionising. It has been an emotional journey, and it is not over yet, but we can now see the finish line, and justice at last feels within reach.”
For its part, Rockstar Games has been adamant that no union-busting was involved when the company made the decision to fire its employees. In December 2025, the studio called the allegations “entirely false and misleading”.
“Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations. Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading,” it said.
This led to an investigation ordered by the at-the-time prime minister of the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, who was prompted to do so by Member of Parliament Chris Murray.
In the meantime, the developer is getting ready to release Grand Theft Auto 6 across PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th.
