Grand Theft Auto makers accused of union-busting after firing employees in

The company behind the Grand Theft Auto games fired more than 30 employees last week in what a union leader called an egregious example of union-busting, with some effects being felt in Canada.

Bloomberg reported last week that Rockstar Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive Software, terminated 34 employees in the U.K. and Canada.

A representative from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) told CBC they believe three workers in Toronto were part of the firings. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were part of Rockstar’s Toronto studio — actually located in Oakville, Ont. — or one of their other studios based in the U.K. or the U.S.

News of the firings came shortly before an earnings call with Take-Two, where it was announced Rockstar’s upcoming and highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI had been further delayed and is now scheduled to launch in November 2026. This follows a previous delay, which pushed its initial release date from late 2025 to May 2026.

The IWGB said all of the employees were part of a private trade union chat group, and were either members of the union or attempting to unionize within the company.

“Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry,” IWGB president Alex Marshall said in a statement. “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.”

A spokesperson for Rockstar initially only said the employees were fired for “gross misconduct,” but days later said they were leaking company secrets with people outside the company.

The IWGB refuted those accusations, saying, “workers only communicated in private and legally protected trade union channels and did not leak any information publicly.”

Organizers with the IWGB led protests outside Rockstar and Take-Two’s offices in the U.K. earlier this week. According to GamesIndustry.biz, employees described the fired employees being “marched out of the building” with little warning or explanation, followed by “outrage, loss, grief” among those laid off and workers who remained.

‘Chilling effect’ on organizing in Canada

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada, which represents video game developers and publishers in Canada, declined to comment.

“We see an industry of creative talented workers who are tired of being overworked, and frustrated by huge differences in pay often related to gender, and a lack of job security and worker voice,” said Carmel Smyth, president of media workers union CWA Canada, which…