- IWGB Game Workers Union has demanded recognition from Rockstar Games ahead of the GTA 6 release.
- The union demands fair pay, flexible working hours, and bargaining on the time crunch for Rockstar employees.
- If demands aren't met, IWGB is ready to organize another protest and approach the UK government for recognition.
GTA 6’s release is just months away, as pre-orders continue to top the global sales charts on PlayStation and Xbox. At the same time, the November 19 launch, which everyone is waiting for, could be in jeopardy as GTA 6 studio Rockstar Games finds itself in deep waters. Devs at Rockstar North have demanded that the studio recognize their workers’ union before GTA 6 launches or face the consequences.
Rockstar Developers Want the Studio to Recognize Their Union Before GTA 6 Launch
The team behind GTA 6 at Rockstar has applied for a voluntary recognition of the IWGB (Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain) Game Workers Union, hoping to make the studio the second game dev in the UK to recognize a union of this scale.
According to the union, the recognition would not only give its workers additional rights but also provide a structure for bargaining on issues such as pay transparency, flexible working hours, excessive workplace crunch, and so forth. The union claims to represent Rockstar’s workforce across studios in Edinburgh, Dundee, Lincoln, Leeds, and London in the UK.
Devs behind GTA 6, like senior QA tester Josh Walter, who works at the Lincoln studio, argued that better pay, fairer working conditions, and less overtime would help Rockstar devs make even better games. At the same time, another Rockstar employee, Shanti Easton-Steel, production co-ordinator at Rockstar North, called the recognition bid a major milestone and said the union will keep pushing for fair pay, less crunch and better workplace flexibility.
When it comes to the suits at Rockstar, a corporate spokesperson issued the following statement to IGN: “We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition. We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet.”
The recognition demand comes as Rockstar and the IGWB are locking horns in a legal dispute over claims of union busting last year, where 34 employees were laid off last year over such allegations. However, Rockstar has maintained their position that the employees were fired for leaking info about its upcoming games like GTA 6 on Discord. This sparked protests outside Rockstar North’s Edinburgh office and Take Two’s London HQ.
A final hearing is scheduled for September 2026 to determine whether the employees were unlawfully dismissed for union busting or not. The latest union push also arrives just months before GTA 6 launches. IWGB claims the game has already generated $3 billion in revenue since GTA 6 pre-order pricing went live, and thus argues Rockstar is in a better financial position to negotiate with its employees.
However, if all goes south, IWGB can also seek recognition through the UK’s Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) and may hold another protest outside Rockstar’s offices before GTA 6 preloads go live right before launch. This could cause Rockstar to delay the game’s launch once again if the devs and most of its workforce are on strike.
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