Rockstar will maintain union vote proper on prime of Grand Theft Auto 6 launch

Rockstar staff will maintain a vote on union recognition over a two-week span in November that may completely bracket the studio’s launch of the console model of Grand Theft Auto 6. If the vote carries in favor of the union, the IWGB Rockstar Recreation Employees Union will change into the most important recreation business union within the UK, giving staff a voice on issues together with pay and bonuses, additional time, redundancies, versatile working preparations, and generative AI insurance policies.

The phrases of the popularity deal have been underneath negotiation between the union and Rockstar administration since July, however unionization efforts have been underway for for much longer. The method got here underneath intense scrutiny in October 2025 when the studio fired 31 staff in what the IWGB claimed was “probably the most brazen act of union busting the video games business has ever seen.” Rockstar alleged that the fired staff have been leaking GTA 6 info in a public Discord; the matter is now earlier than an employment tribunal in Scotland.

“This November, we’ve got the prospect to make gaming historical past not as soon as however twice. As all our exhausting work, ability and creativity are skilled by GTA VI gamers for the primary time, our voices will now be heard for the primary time too,” Rockstar Recreation Employees Union committee member Shanti Easton-Metal mentioned.

“For me, this vote comes down to making sure staff at Rockstar get honesty and openness surrounding the choices that have an effect on them. When administration decisions are saved hidden, we will not correctly handle points just like the gender pay hole, the uneven and ever-changing insurance policies on additional time pay, or the considerations many co-workers maintain round job safety post-release. That is our second to safe a window onto the choices that form our lives, and a seat on the desk to enhance them. I am immensely pleased with the video games Rockstar offers its followers—I wish to be equally pleased with the voice Rockstar offers its employees.”

We’re proud to share that in just a few weeks’ time, Rockstar employees will get to have their very own say over union recognition. From pay and pensions to parental depart and additional time, this recognition settlement is an opportunity for employees to be concerned within the choices that form their lives.

— @rsgworkersunion.bsky.social (@rsgworkersunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-27T22:22:57.195Z

“For anybody who cares in regards to the video games business or the individuals who preserve it operating, this vote is simply as historic as the sport launch. However for employees at Rockstar, it’s so way more private: it’s basically a selection about whether or not you get to have a say in how your day-to-day life is organised,” IWGB Union president Alex Marshall added.

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The vote to acknowledge the union will run November 12-26, the week main up, after which the week after, GTA 6’s November 19 launch on consoles. Rockstar hasn’t commented on the looming vote, however Rockstar head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe indicated in Bloomberg’s latest have a look at the making of GTA that the studio will not struggle it: “We go the place the group goes. So if they need a union, they may have a union.”