220 Rockstar North Employees Sign Letter Demanding Fired Employees are 'Immediately Reinstated' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 14 November 2025 / 5,455 Views
220 Rockstar North employees have signed a letter demanding the company immediately reinstates the 31 employees that were fired last week.
The employees, all members of the IWGB Union, believe they were fired illegally for unionizing. The union describes it as "the most ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry."
"By deciding to fire more than 30 union members, Rockstar have carried out an Amazon-style act of union-busting unprecedented in the games industry," said IWGB organizer Fred Carter. "This is a company that benefits from more than £440 million in UK tax relief, while displaying a callous and blatant disregard for both the livelihood of workers and the letter of the law."
One staff member fired by Rockstar last week that remained anonymous stated, "It’s heartwarming to see so many of our colleagues supporting us and holding management to account – during a period where Rockstar want us to feel scared, my brave former colleagues are marching straight up to our boss’s door and demanding our voices are heard and not backing down.
"It’s clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting. Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out."
Read the letter below:
Staff working at Rockstar North, the developers of the Grand Theft Auto game series, have delivered a letter to senior management signed by over 200 members of staff, condemning the firing of 31 employees last week that is believed to be an act of union busting. In the letter, staff demand the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues, all of whom in the UK were members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Union.
Last week, supporters protested in London outside Take-Two House, Rockstar’s holding company, in solidarity with the fired employees. A protest was also held outside the company’s offices on Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, where the ex-employees and current staff joined to demand reinstatement, as the culmination of a week of gatherings outside the company’s offices.
Rockstar have claimed in a public statement that the 31 members of staff were fired for leaking information in public channels, something that the IWGB has refuted, saying that workers only communicated in private and legally-protected trade union channels. The IWGB has now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar, asserting that it will pursue all avenues to ensure that members are reinstated and granted interim relief.
Further protests are planned for this Friday 7 November, starting with an 8am rally outside Take Two’s London office, followed by a protest at 4pm (CET) outside the company’s Paris headquarters, where members of STJV (Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo) will show their support for the fired workers. There will be another protest on Tuesday 18 November at 6pm outside Holyrood to coincide with a cross-party parliamentary group meeting on Scotland’s games industry.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
More Articles
220 more layoffs incoming...
i agree its the right thing to do
No, you bootlicker.
sorry, im str8, exit only
What does gender identity have to do with labor issues at Rockstar?
So that's where you're lowering yourself? Bravo. 🤌
peak bootlicker comment
So it's okay to leak game information on private channels? Because that's what the unions are saying the workers did.
And they are upset because they think they should be able to do that.
Both sides have differing stories. Rockstar has a lot to gain by not being caught union busting. So of course they will attempt to tarnish the credibility of the fired employees to maintain a better public image. You act as if companies haven't done this numerous times over and gotten caught for it. To add to it the number of employees needed to form a union was close to being reached around the time Rockstar laid off these employees. It is also UK law and not US law. So the private channels comment you made is speaking without the full knowledge of the communications. You can't call something reality when you are using speculation to fuel your argument.
Isn't 231+?
"t the IWGB has refuted, saying that workers only communicated in private and legally-protected trade union channels."
That to me is a red flag.
They didn't say that they HADN'T leaked game information, the union just says they leaked it in places where it should have been ok.
The media really need to pick up on that.
Where are you taking the info from that the workers leaked GAME information?
It's in the story.
"Rockstar have claimed in a public statement that the 31 members of staff were fired for leaking information in public channels"
I have not seen the word "game" anywhere, you are adding that in to make it seen like Rockstar is right when they're not.
Rockstar said they leaked game information to the public.
The IWGB didn't deny that information had been shared,; they denied it was on a public channel.
At no point does the IWGB say they deny sharing game information. Only WHERE it was shared.
Rockstar literally did not say that, what you're doing is willful lying, and I won't reply to it anymore.
It's literally in the story on this very page. What on earth are you taking about?
It feels like you don’t understand what the term “Leaked” means.
It can feel to you however you like; but the reality is this:
When posed with the charge of leaking game information; the IWGB retort was that game information was only shared on "private and legally-protected trade union channels."
Which ever way you cut it, that's still leaking information. It's so easy to be mindless sheep and say "but muh corporations", but the IWGB is not denying game information was leaked. In fact they are trying to gas light.
I know internet people want to side with unions because that's the opposite of corpo's, but I want to side with the truth, no matter what side that is.
That isn’t leaking information.
It is a legally protected communication. You are 100% allowed to talk to trade union representatives about the nature of your work in a private channel.
If the information was leaked it would now be publicly available. Can you point me to where I can read the information they leaked?
“… workers only communicated in private and legally-protected trade union channels.“
Thought I would add the quote.
Seems very plausible that they discussed their work with their union, as regularly protected by law.
Take-Two who are very aggressive about a lot of things probably didn’t like that. The discredit them by talking about the dismissals being due to a leak is a plausible tactic.
I don’t know the specifics, but their co-workers seem to be supportive of them and I think it is right that the union action process takes place against Take-Two and Rockstar to uncover the truth and look after the workers if they were unfairly dismissed.
I'm not giving you the address. But if you looking in a misc folder of a certain popular rom website that ends in "ENT"
"When posed with the charge of leaking game information; the IWGB retort was that game information was only shared on "private and legally-protected trade union channels.""
I don't know how clear you want it to be.
You keep saying game information to make it sound like Rockstar is on the right, but you didn't answer my question of where you are getting the info that they leaked game information.
If you can't be bothered the read the text in the VGC story, this is not my problem
The information wasn’t leaked, it’s not available publicly.
I don’t know how much clearer that can be.
Talking to trade union reps about the nature of your work is legally protected in the countries this happened. I don’t know how much clearer this can be.
It's on a public website. How much clearer do you want it?
It’s not, it’s on a private communication.
The same as if they communicated via WhatsApp or whatever.
What constitutes a private channel is dictated by the law and not what Rockstar unilaterally declare.
So why is the information on public websites?
It isn’t.
All GTAVI leaks:
https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_VI/Leaks
Are you stupid?
They are listed on the site you just linked!
So even basic reading comprehension is beyond your single digit IQ? Great.
The only leaks in the last 2 years were a dude who took a picture of a computer, who didn't work for Rockstar(probably a maintenace/cleaner) and some domain names were scraped from the Internet.
The other 2 leaks were a known hack and a video leaked by the son/friend of Rockstar North development.
So, which of these leaks came from the 30+ employees fired, excatly?
Why are you trying to gas light me?
Tell me which leak they are responsible for. Use your words now.
Why bother? You'll only deny it again and try to claim something else happened.
Even when YOU post a link that shows what I'm saying, you still try to deny it.
We're done here.
Haha, there’s only 5 leaks listed. Tell me which one is attributed to these 31 sacked employees.
Companies trying to scare people that unionize really needs to be taken very seriously.
I hope we can get to know if that really was the case there, and if it was, that Rockstar gets punished by the law.
A lot of us Americans don't understand that business laws and worker's rights over their in Europe are a lot different (and in many ways better for the layman) than they are over here in 'murica.
A significant portion of the states here have the right to fire any employee "at will", meaning no explanation or reason needed.
Just like with things like healthcare (and until recent years, legal marijuana), American exceptionalism and propaganda has us believing that all of our systems are perfect for the common man as is and all you other guys are the ones off beat.
I’ve heard of the ‘at will’ stuff and a few nightmare stories that resulted from it, and am quite thankful I don’t have to experience it.
But even in ‘at will’ states there are still a few limitations. You can’t fire someone for being pregnant for instance.
Maybe you're a fan of the American legal system, but I'm certainly not. I'd say that, on average, US and European laws are about equally dumb.
I don't know how you read my comment and concluded that I'm a fan of it.
They're becoming as rotten as GTA antagonists.
I don't know if I'd like to go back to work after something like this. The tension, the politics, the fact that you know you aren't welcome and only have the job back because they were forced into it. It wouldn't be very long before you were either fired again, only for "legit" reasons this time, or would want to quit from all of the above. Better to sue if you're unhappy, get what you feel you deserve monetarily and find greener pastures where you're actually wanted.
Good.
They may be better off working somewhere they're actually appreciated and treated fairly. Rockstar sucks.
It's all about the corporate greed, they don't care about us or their employees,
Only ones employed in the near future are robots & ai sadly becoming a reality as we know it
I'm all for making your opinions known to your employer...
But you must be aware, the moment you start making demands (regardless if they are reasonable or not) you will be put on the expiration list
Didn't they get fired for leaking information about GTA6 that they knew they weren't suppose to?
