Game News

Rockstar staff will vote on a union during GTA 6 launch week: four outlets, four emphases

Rockstar Games employees in the UK will vote between 12 and 26 November on whether to recognise their union, a window that brackets the 19 November release of Grand Theft Auto 6. PC Gamer, Game Developer and South Korea's Inven Global reported the dates on 27 October; Eurogamer followed the next day.

The union is the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union, part of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain. If the vote passes, Eurogamer and PC Gamer said, it would be the largest recognised union in the UK games industry. Inven Global said the anonymous online ballot is on a recognition deal agreed between management and workers, covering pay and bonuses, overtime, redundancies, flexible working, generative AI policies, pensions and parental leave.

“We go where the team goes.” — Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar head of publishing, via PC Gamer

The vote follows a dispute over staff fired in 2025, which Rockstar said leaked GTA 6 information on a Discord and the union calls union busting. Game Developer said the tribunal hears closing arguments on 17 and 18 November.

How each outlet framed it

• PC Gamer — the timing on top of the launch, and Rockstar's stated position.
• Game Developer — the workers' demands and the tribunal calendar.
• Inven Global — the 2025 firings and the union's legal claims.
• Eurogamer — the scale: a first for the UK games industry.

Where the numbers differ: PC Gamer said Rockstar fired 31 employees; Game Developer and Inven Global said more than 30.