Rockstar workers push to unionize ahead of GTA VI’s launch

Workers at Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar Games have submitted a request for their union, the IWGB Game Workers Union, to be voluntarily recognized, according to a press release. The request follows Rockstar firing more than 30 staffers last year in a move accused of being “union busting.”

According to the release, IWGB members have been “actively” organizing since 2019 and “claim they now represent a significant proportion of the workforce across each of the studio’s sites in Edinburgh, Dundee, Lincoln, Leeds and London.” As the union has grown, “Rockstar has already made improvements to workers’ conditions including unprecedented average pay rises and financial incentives for crunch for the first time ever.” The union wants to improve pay transparency, strengthen “flexible working arrangements,” and address crunch, which is something Rockstar has come under scrutiny for in the past.

“We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition,” Alan Lewis, Take-Two’s head of communications, says in a statement to The Verge. “We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet.”

A final hearing in an employment tribunal over last year’s firings is scheduled to start in September — shortly before the planned launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th. Rockstar announced a $79.99 starting price for the game and opened preorders last week.

The push from Rockstar workers is part of a bigger movement by game developers to unionize. Double Fine staffers filed a petition to unionize in May, and workers at the Activision studio Raven Software secured their first union contract last year.

Update, June 30th: Added a statement from Take-Two.