Rockstar Games Fires Dozens of Employees Ahead of GTA 6 Release

According to Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, Rockstar Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive, has fired between 30 and 40 employees across its offices in the UK and Canada. The publisher claims the terminations were due to “misconduct.”

Representatives of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) stated that all of the affected employees were part of a private union group on Discord and were either union members or trying to organize colleagues within the company. The union called Rockstar’s actions one of the most blatant cases of union-busting in the history of the gaming industry.

"Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry.This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry", — said Alex Marshall, president of IWGB.

A Take-Two spokesperson, however, insisted that the firings were “for gross misconduct, and for no other reason” and that the company fully supports Rockstar’s approach.

In recent years, Rockstar has increased security measures following a major leak in 2022, when dozens of unfinished videos of Grand Theft Auto 6 were released online. Earlier in 2024, the union criticized the company for requiring employees to return to the office five days a week, to which Rockstar responded that the decision was partly for security reasons.

GTA 6 is scheduled for release on May 26, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Thousands of Rockstar employees are reportedly involved in the project, so the recent layoffs are unlikely to significantly impact development.