GTA 6 Developer Rockstar Claims Fired Employees Were Dismissed for Leaking 'Specific Game Features From Upcoming and Unannounced Titles,' Not Because They Were Trying to Unionize

Rockstar has claimed the employees it precocious fired were dismissed due to the fact that they leaked crippled features for upcoming and unannounced titles successful Discord, not due to the fact that they were trying to unionize.

In a connection provided to IGN, a Rockstar Games spokesperson said:

“Rockstar Games took enactment against a tiny radical of individuals, crossed the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential accusation (including circumstantial crippled features from upcoming and unannounced titles) successful a nationalist forum, successful breach of institution argumentation and their ineligible obligations. Claims that these dismissals were linked to national rank oregon activities are wholly mendacious and misleading.”

34 members of unit astatine Rockstar were dismissed, 31 successful the UK and 3 successful Canada, sparking protests extracurricular the bureau of GTA 6 developer Rockstar North successful Edinburgh, Scotland, and extracurricular genitor institution Take-Two’s bureau successful London.

Rockstar’s connection comes aft UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the lawsuit “deeply concerning," and pledged that ministers would investigate.

The layoffs, which took spot astatine the extremity of October, were raised successful the UK's Parliament during this week’s league of Prime Minister's Questions by Rockstar North's section MP Chris Murray.

"The video games institution Rockstar successful my constituency past period fired 31 employees without providing grounds oregon national representation," Murray told the Prime Minister. "The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain union] IWGB alleges national busting. Having met Rockstar they failed to reassure maine they are pursuing employment instrumentality and I stock concerns astir national busting.

"Given this authorities is liable for the biggest summation successful workers rights successful a generation," Murray continued, "does the Prime Minister hold each companies careless of nett size indispensable travel UK employment instrumentality and each workers person the close to articulation a union?"

"It's a profoundly concerning case," Starmer replied. "Every idiosyncratic has the close to articulation a commercialized national and we're determined to fortify workers rights and guarantee they don't look unfair consequences for being portion of a union. Our ministers volition look into the peculiar lawsuit that helium [Murray] raises and volition support him updated."

IGN has contacted the IWGB for further comment.

In a connection sent to IGN this week, MP Chris Murray shared further, eyebrow-raising item of his attempts to sermon the substance with Rockstar itself, including a associated gathering alongside chap Edinburgh MPs Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur astatine Rockstar North's offices which began with a standoff implicit the request to motion a non-disclosure statement (NDA).

"The gathering began with america arsenic MPs refused introduction unless an NDA was signed, a petition they yet withdrew aft it being made wide this would not beryllium signed," Murray said.

He continued: "The gathering lone entrenched my concerns astir the process Rockstar utilized to disregard truthful galore of their unit members. I was not assured their process paid robust attraction to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this people of enactment was necessary, and alarmingly, I did not permission informed connected precisely what these 31 radical had done to warrant their contiguous dismissal."

As for Rockstar's now-former staff, the IWGB has formally taken up their lawsuit and filed ineligible claims against Rockstar Games, alleging that their dismissal constituted "trade national victimisation and blacklisting." The archetypal measurement connected this ineligible travel volition spot the IWGB's assertion examined by a tribunal who volition find whether the ex-employees are eligible for immoderate interim relief. IGN precocious questioned Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick connected the matter, who answered by defending the company's civilization and saying that Take-Two was "incredibly arrogant of our labour relations."

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].