Recently, a protest accusing gaming giant Rockstar Games of "union busting" broke out outside its Edinburgh studio and the headquarters of parent company Take-Two Interactive in London.The controversy stemmed from the company laying off 30 to 40 employees, a move the union accused of being intended to prevent employees from forming a union.

The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which organized the protest, claimed that Rockstar's dismissal was a direct blow to employees' efforts to form a union.The protesters held signs, chanted "Rockstar, Rockstar, you are disgusting, we are suing you for union destruction" and demanded that the company reinstate the fired employees.

However, both Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two have strongly denied the accusation.A Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg that the employees were fired because they "disclosed company secrets" and stressed that "this has nothing to do with employees' rights to join a union or participate in union activities."Take-Two also stated that the dismissal was based on "serious misconduct and no other reasons."

At the London protest, an anonymous statement from sacked employees was read out.The statement said: "I was fired without warning, without evidence, and without an opportunity to defend myself. All because I communicated with colleagues in a private union chat group. We did not leak any information and had no intention to harm the company. We were just supporting each other and trying to understand our work environment and make it better. It feels extremely unfair to lose my job over this."

The labor dispute comes at a crucial time as Rockstar is making its final push for its most anticipated game ever, Grand Theft Auto 6.However, Rockstar announced today that "GTA6" has been postponed again, with the latest release date set for November 19, 2026.Industry insiders analyzed that this extension may be related to layoff conflicts.

Since a large-scale game content leak occurred in 2022, the company’s internal management has become increasingly strict.Rockstar has previously triggered discussions by asking employees to end remote working and return to the office to strengthen confidentiality. Some developers have also accused the company of "breaking its promise of not exploiting employees" at the end of the development of "GTA6."The dismissals and protests undoubtedly cast a shadow over the eventual birth of this flagship product.