Rockstar Games Workers Union
The IWGB-backed Rockstar Games Workers Union: launched May 2026 across five UK studios amid a disputed round of dismissals, now seeking recognition.
- Union
- RGWU, backed by the IWGB
- Launched
- May 28, 2026, across five UK studios
- Dismissals dispute
- Oct-Nov 2025 (Rockstar's count: 34)
- Interim relief
- Rejected January 12, 2026
- Recognition filed
- June 30, 2026
- First meeting
- Announced July 22, 2026 (union-sourced)
The Rockstar Games Workers Union (RGWU), organised under the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), publicly launched on May 28, 2026 across Rockstar's five UK studios: Edinburgh, London, Leeds, Lincoln and Dundee.
The dismissals dispute
The dispute traces to late October and November 2025, when Rockstar dismissed a group of developers; reports put the number at 30 to 40, while Rockstar's own accounting totalled 34 across multiple incidents. Rockstar says it acted against staff "found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum" and has stated: "This was never about 'union busting'... Rockstar has always been consistent in its zero-tolerance approach to leaks." The IWGB describes the same events as "one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry", says every dismissed worker was in active unionisation talks, and alleges Rockstar impersonated staff to surveil a private Discord server. Rockstar calls the union-busting claim "entirely false and misleading". The two accounts have not been reconciled.
Tribunal and recognition
A preliminary employment tribunal hearing took place in Glasgow on January 5, 2026, and on January 12 the judge rejected the union's application for interim relief to reinstate 31 UK workers; the underlying claims continue toward a fuller hearing. The union filed for voluntary recognition on June 30, 2026, and announced a first formal meeting with management on July 22, 2026, calling it "a step in the right direction", though every account of that meeting comes from the union's own post and Rockstar has made no public comment on it. The union's five published demands are an end to crunch and unpaid overtime, pay and bonus transparency, remote and flexible working, no AI replacing workers, and a commitment to no layoffs. No outlet has linked the union process to the release schedule.