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Over 200 Rockstar staff write to management in support of unfairly fired union members

Campaigns, Statement
  • 220 letters signed by staff members at Rockstar, the studio behind the Grand Theft Auto series, were delivered to management at the company last week, demanding that the 31 employees fired are immediately reinstated
  • The employees, all of whom were members of the IWGB Union, believe they were fired illegally for unionising, which the IWGB has described as “the most ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry”
  • Fired Rockstar employees, supporters, and current staff gathered outside the company’s offices on 108 Holyrood Road every day last week, culminating in protests there and outside Take Two Interactive’s London offices on Thursday 6 November
  • Further protests are planned to take place in London and Paris this Friday 14 November, and in Edinburgh on Tuesday 18 November

 

THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER: Staff working at Rockstar North, the developers of the Grand Theft Auto game series, have delivered a letter to senior management signed by over 200 members of staff, condemning the firing of 31 employees last week that is believed to be an act of union busting. In the letter, staff demand the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues, all of whom in the UK were members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Union.

 

Last week, supporters protested in London outside Take-Two House, Rockstar’s holding company, in solidarity with the fired employees. A protest was also held outside the company’s offices on Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, where the ex-employees and current staff joined to demand reinstatement, as the culmination of a week of gatherings outside the company’s offices.

Rockstar have claimed in a public statement that the 31 members of staff were fired for leaking information in public channels, something that the IWGB has refuted, saying that workers only communicated in private and legally-protected trade union channels. The IWGB has now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar, asserting that it will pursue all avenues to ensure that members are reinstated and granted interim relief.

Further protests are planned for this Friday 7 November, starting with an 8am rally outside Take Two’s London office, followed by a protest at 4pm (CET) outside the company’s Paris headquarters, where members of STJV (Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo) will show their support for the fired workers. There will be another protest on Tuesday 18 November at 6pm outside Holyrood to coincide with a cross-party parliamentary group meeting on Scotland’s games industry.

Peter*, one of the staff fired at Rockstar last week says: “It’s heartwarming to see so many of our colleagues supporting us and holding management to account – during a period where Rockstar want us to feel scared, my brave former colleagues are marching straight up to our boss’s door and demanding our voices are heard and not backing down. It’s clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting. Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out.”

Fred Carter, an IWGB organiser says: “By deciding to fire more than 30 union members, Rockstar have carried out an Amazon-style act of union-busting unprecedented in the games industry. This is a company that benefits from more than £440 million in UK tax relief, while displaying a callous and blatant disregard for both the livelihood of workers and the letter of the law.”

*Name has been changed to protect anonymity.

For more information, please contact:

Jake Thomas: jakethomas@iwgb.co.uk

Ellie Butcher: elliebutcher@iwgb.co.uk

 

An IWGB Game Workers sticker appears in front of the Build a Rocket Boy office. A neon sign depicting the name of the studio appears in the background.

Open Letter to the Executive Leadership at Build A Rocket Boy

Blog, Campaigns

Employees and ex-employees at Build A Rocket Boy (BARB), together with the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), are writing to address the longstanding disrespect and mistreatment of your staff. For years, you have expected them to adapt to your every whim, with those in disagreement being shut down or cast aside. We estimate a UK-majority of 250-300 workers across the company have now lost their livelihoods. These layoffs happened because you repeatedly refused to listen to your workforce’s years of experience, resulting in one of the worst video game launches this decade.

Here are just a few of the many issues we have faced under your management:

Lack of transparency and communication. You have consistently failed to effectively communicate with the workers whose expertise the company relies on. Information has been sparse and vague, with you often making radical changes to the way we worked with little or no input from those affected.

Unbearable levels of overtime. In the 4 months leading up to the launch of MindsEye, you implemented a mandatory 8 hours of overtime per week for every single employee. Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) was given at a rate of 7 hours back for every 8 hours worked, but many have still not been able to take this time off due to your continued requests for extra “high-priority” work, even after launch.

Disastrous handling of redundancies. We believe you have consistently mishandled the redundancy process, causing confusion and distress for all staff. Employees have received misinformation, been handed dismissal notices with the wrong notice periods, and been put in the wrong teams so that their performances were scored by the wrong people. These and other errors have potentially resulted in the wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members.

These and many other issues, some of which have been made public already, have caused pain and stress for your employees. Our experience at the company has been one of burnout, job insecurity, health issues, and the failure of a game that many of us have put years of our lives into. BARB needs to change. CEOs need to take a backseat and allow the skilled people who remain at the company to forge the path ahead. We demand the following:

  1. A public apology for this mistreatment of employees and proper compensation for laid-off employees;
  1. The option for remaining employees on redundancy notice to either work their notice period or take Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON);
  1. A concerted, meaningful, and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company, including the acknowledgement of the IWGB as a trade union;
  1. A commitment to use official external partners to action any future redundancies and prevent unfair treatment.

Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies, you often refer to your employees as “family”. But we ask you to consider; is this really how you treat your own?

In solidarity,

93 BARB Employees and Ex-Employees ︱ IWGB Game Workers

Workers at ZA/UM Announce Landmark Recognition Agreement

Blog, Campaigns, Statement

Video game developers at ZA/UM Studio, represented by the IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) have today announced their formation of a union at their workplace. After a negotiation process, management has agreed to enter a working relationship with the union.

This marks the first recognised workplace union in the UK games industry, providing an exciting milestone for workers industry-wide. The recognition process provides workers and management with a strong framework to engage and negotiate on workplace-related matters. A committee of elected workplace representatives will regularly meet to discuss matters brought forward by the game developers at ZA/UM and management, with the support of union officials.

The news follows widespread layoffs in the games industry, which affected over 900 UK game workers in 2023 and almost 15,000 worldwide workers in 2024. The layoffs shone a light on the precarity facing so many in the industry and made job security one of the union’s central focuses.

Spring McParlin-Jones, Chair of the Game Workers Union, said: “Anyone working in the sector can see that the game has been rigged against us for far too long. Now developers at ZA/UM are proving that by coming together as a union we can take back power and shape our workplaces for the better. We need to build an industry where workers can create exciting, meaningful games without sacrificing their social lives, their mental health, or their financial stability. I hope ZA/UM workers’ achievement inspires others working in the games industry to join us in fighting for a fairer, more sustainable sector.”

Eugenia Peruzzo, Organising Officer of the IWGB Game Workers Union, said: "Our first IWGB ZA/UM recognition agreement is a proof of the power that game workers have when they come together, trust each other and join our Union. Recognition agreements lay the groundwork for a healthy relationship between the company and workers and rebalance the scale of powers after a few terrible years for the game industry and the redundancies we have seen happening at ZA/UM lately. We are looking forward to many more to come in the future. Rest assured that this is not a one off, but this is an avalanche in the making. "

Representatives from ZA/UM spoke with GamesIndustry.biz to discuss the situation more.

It's no secret that the games industry is in an unstable place. We believe that if things are going to improve then the workers must be represented in their company's decision making processes. This is a great step forward towards that goal, but we still have a long way to go. If you work in the UK games industry and feel the same, then join the union and let us work together for a stronger industry.

Sign up today!

Open Letter Regarding the UK Video Games Council

Blog

Dear Sir Chris Bryant MP and Charlotte Nichols MP,

The Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) are writing to express our disappointment with the UK Video Games Council’s exclusion of our union and every one of the nationally registered charitable organisations working to improve the sector. We are likewise saddened by your lack of response to our previous correspondence.

The council’s present composition, with 13 of its 14 members employed by companies with central offices in London and the South of England, is clearly unrepresentative of game workers across the country.

Furthermore, a number of these groups are actively investing in automated software and AI applications to ‘empower’ developers and ‘optimise’ modes of production. In reality, such ‘empowerment’ and ‘optimisation’ risks replacing genuine creativity with the mediocrity of algorithms, while compounding an ongoing crisis related to technological displacement and poor regulation. A trend that has already led to thousands of game workers losing their jobs.

The UK games industry, despite contributing over £3 billion to our country’s GDP, is in a bad enough state as it is... Mass layoffs, crunch culture, wage stagnation, toxic work environments, and rampant job insecurity are driving talent abroad or away from creating video games altogether. Yet, the UK Video Games Council includes no trade unions, no worker representatives, and no voices from grassroots initiatives, that have supported vulnerable workers for years.

How can a body responsible for shaping the future of digital play ignore the very people making video games?

Additionally, this exclusion contradicts the government’s own pledges. The Fair Pay Agreements in social care involved union consultation, and the Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasised the need for “partnership with workers” to rebuild industries.

If the UK Video Games Council is serious about securing our country’s position as a global leader, it must:

  1. Include a council member nominated by the IWGB Game Workers union.
  2. Expand council membership to include relevant UK charitable organisations.
  3. Ensure better regional representation beyond London and the South of England.
  4. Publicly address our concerns.

Game workers in the UK deserve to be listened to and to have a seat at the table. We urge you to acknowledge us.

In solidarity,

IWGB Game Workers