In the midst of the UK government having recently announced its plans to investigate Rockstar Games’ firing of over 30 employees, the studio has stood its ground to once more reiterate that the firings only took place because it alleges the employees in question were discussing confidential information in a public forum. In a statement provided to IGN, the Grand Theft Auto developer has insisted that any indications that the firings were a part of its attempt at union busting “are entirely false and misleading.”
“Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations. Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading,” said a Rockstar Games spokesperson in their statement.
The statement comes shortly after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised an investigation into Rockstar’s actions. He made this statement during a recent session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK Parliament, where Member of Parliament (MP) Chris Murray brought up the firings and links to the company’s union busting actions.
“The video games company Rockstar in my constituency last month fired 31 employees without providing evidence or union representation,” said Murray during the session. “The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain union] IWGB alleges union busting. Having met Rockstar they failed to reassure me they are following employment law and I share concerns about union busting.”
“Given this government is responsible for the biggest increase in workers rights in a generation, does the Prime Minister agree all companies regardless of profit size must follow UK employment law and all workers have the right to join a union?”
“It’s a deeply concerning case,” Starmer replied. “Every worker has the right to join a trade union and we’re determined to strengthen workers rights and ensure they don’t face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case that he [Murray] raises and will keep him updated.”
Reports of Rockstar Games having fired these employees came to light back in November, and the company was subsequently called out by IWGB president Alex Marshall for what he has called “one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting” in the game 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 Marshall.
A report from a few weeks ago indicated t hat the fired employees were simply using a Discord channel to discuss union-related subjects in light of Rockstar Games having deleted several channels from its Slack, leaving employees without any way to discuss subjects aside from work with each other. This led the employees to have these discussions on Discord instead.
