- Following the announcement of GTA 6's delay, a Rockstar employee has come forward to provide an account of the current conditions at the studio.
- According to the active employee, recent layoffs were tied to unionisation efforts, as confidential information was never shared by the terminated staff.
- The layoffs have affected studio morale, which is now said to be at "rock bottom."
GTA 6 developer Rockstar North is reportedly contending with internal turmoil as work on polishing and refining the game drags on. The studio recently terminated 34 employees across its UK and Canada offices, accusing them of gross misconduct in the process. This resulted in a protest outside Take-Two’s London offices, staged by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB). The fallout didn’t end there, as a damning account from an active employee suggests that morale at the studio has hit “rock bottom.”
For the uniniated, Rockstar alleged that all laid-off staff shared company secrets in a trade union Discord. The IWGB quickly rubbished these claims and accused Rockstar of union-busting instead. Their accusations have now been bolstered by the active employee’s comments, who has chosen to stay anonymous in fear of retaliation from the company.
Rockstar Employee Highlights Depressing Conditions at the GTA 6 Studio
The active employee took to GTA Forums to share their account. While their identity is unknown to the public, they did confirm their employment status with a moderator.
Their forum post started by providing more information about the recent firings. According to the Rockstar employee, their colleagues were called in for a short HR meeting before being handed an envelope, which confirmed their dismissal due to “gross misconduct.” The firing letter mentioned no specific reason for their layoffs, and Rockstar refused to offer one on further enquiry.
The terminated employees’ right to Union representation was also denied, and following the short meeting, they “were frogmarched out of the studio.” Staff not present at the studio were informed via a 2-minute phone call, causing one affected employee to suffer a panic attack. Some of these members were said to have been “sick, recovering from surgery, or on paternity leave.”
The poster mentioned how the timing of their dismissal couldn’t have been worse, especially with the holiday season drawing close. They reaffirmed that no confidential information about Rockstar or any of the studio’s projects was discussed in the trade union Discord, and clarified that the conversation only revolved around unionisation efforts and current working conditions at the company.
All affected employees were said to be union members, which, if true, is as blatant as union-busting can get. The poster went on to describe a state of dread within the studio, with active staff members fearing for their jobs. “Morale in the studio is at rock bottom,” they stated. “When we should be excited about what’s to come over the next year we are now totally deflated and our trust and confidence in others is totally shot.“
While the developers making GTA 6 were struggling with all this uncertainty, mainstream discourse revolved around the game being delayed to November 2026. Despite the new date being over a year away, it’s far from set in stone. In fact, the poster stated that Rockstar’s ability to hit project deadlines will be affected due to the loss of senior employees in critical roles, some of whom had been at the company for more than 18 years.
Whether this results in the game getting delayed to 2027 remains to be seen, although conditions at the studio appear to be dire at the moment.
