Rockstar management was underfire last week after sacking approximately 30-40 employees across its UK and Canadian offices.
Labour leaders alleged that the firings were related to the staffers’ attempt to unionise, but the GTA giant has hit back at the claims.
In a statement to Bloomberg, the firm said it took action because the affected had been sharing corporate secrets in a forum accessed by non-employees.
Its statement reads:
“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies. This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
All impacted employees were allegedly part of a private trade union chat group on Discord, with the only outsiders said to be labour organisers.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain had previously described Rockstar’s actions as “one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry”.
Alex Marshall, the president of the union, has since accused the company of being “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice”.
Ever since a massive GTA 6 leak in 2022, Rockstar has been particularly strict, infamously forcing employees back into the office in the aftermath of the pandemic under the guise of security.
