According to Polygon, on November 6, protesters gathered outside Rockstar’s Edinburgh office after the company fired over 30 employees. Rockstar claims the workers leaked company secrets, but the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain says they were terminated for union organizing in private Discord chats. The firings come as GTA 6 faces another delay, now scheduled for November 19, 2026. An anonymous current employee claims morale is at “rock bottom” and that the dismissed staff held key positions that could impact the new release date. The protest included union representatives and supporters holding signs referencing Grand Theft Auto while calling out management.
The Union Battle Heats Up
Here’s the thing about Rockstar‘s explanation: it just doesn’t add up for the workers. They claim they were discussing workplace conditions in a private Discord server with about 200 people – all Rockstar employees and union organizers. Basically, they were talking about crunch, pay, and inflexible working arrangements. But Rockstar calls that “leaking company secrets.”
And the timing is suspicious, isn’t it? This is the same company that promised back in 2020 to improve its culture after the infamous Red Dead Redemption 2 crunch period where workers reportedly put in 100-hour weeks. Now, five years later, they’re firing people for trying to organize around those exact issues. The union isn’t backing down either – they’ve set up a fundraiser to mount a legal defense against what they call unfair dismissals.
What This Means for GTA 6
This protest isn’t happening in a vacuum. Rockstar just delayed GTA 6 by another six months, and Take-Two’s CEO is still talking about aiming for “perfection” with Metacritic scores over 90. But perfect games don’t get made when morale is, as one employee put it, “at rock bottom.”
Think about it: the anonymous post claims some of the fired workers had been at Rockstar for nearly two decades with clean records. We’re talking senior artists, animators, QA testers, designers, programmers, and producers – people who worked on multiple Rockstar hits. You can’t just replace that institutional knowledge overnight. The remaining staff are reportedly too scared to even acknowledge the protest happening outside their doors. That’s not exactly the environment you want when building what might become the biggest game of all time.
Broader Industry Implications
This fight at Rockstar is becoming a watershed moment for the entire gaming industry. We’ve seen unionization efforts gain steam across developers in recent years, but this is Rockstar we’re talking about – one of the most valuable studios in the world. The outcome here could set precedents that affect how every major studio handles worker organization.
The protest footage circulating online shows this isn’t just about 30 people losing their jobs. It’s about whether game developers can collectively address the industry’s worst practices without fear of retaliation. And with GTA 6’s development stretching on, the pressure to deliver “perfection” while managing this internal crisis creates a perfect storm that could either force real change or lead to even more delays and departures.
