GTA 6 Developers Ask Rockstar to Recognise Their Union Before Launch

A group of UK-based developers working on Grand Theft Auto VI have asked Rockstar Games to voluntarily recognise their union, going public with the request less than six months before the blockbuster launches. According to a report from Game Developer, the studio now has 10 working days to respond.

The push sets up a tense stand-off between one of gaming’s biggest launches and a workforce pressing for formal bargaining rights.

The Recognition Request

The Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU) was established under the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) earlier this year. UK workers already have the right to organise and join a union without interference, but the IWGB stresses that formal recognition would grant members additional protections and rights, and open formal channels for collective bargaining with management. The union intends to bargain over pay transparency, flexible working, and crunch. An IWGB spokesperson told Game Developer that Rockstar has 10 working days to respond to the request, and if it succeeds, Rockstar would become only the second UK studio with a recognised union, after Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM.

Amid a Legal Dispute

The recognition bid arrives against the backdrop of an ongoing legal dispute between the IWGB and Rockstar. The studio has been accused of firing 31 employees in direct retaliation for engaging in trade union activity, an allegation Rockstar denies, claiming it dismissed those workers for leaking confidential information. That dispute makes the timing of the voluntary-recognition request, and Rockstar’s response to it, especially charged.

Read More: GTA 6 Developer Rockstar Faces Backlash After Firing 34 Workers Over Discord Chats

What the Workers Say

The employees have framed the effort as protecting the studio as much as themselves. “Rockstar leads the industry in the games we create. We believe it can also lead the industry in how it treats the people who make them,” said Josh Walter, a senior QA tester at Rockstar’s office in Lincoln. “There is so much that is special about the studio and the work we put out. We want to protect that. When people are confronted with pay disparities, excessive overtime or a lack of flexibility in arrangements, they are not in the best position to do their best work. We want to sit down with management and build a future where both the games and the conditions of the people who make them are as strong as possible.”

Speaking to Kotaku, RGWU member Shanti Easton-Steel credited a long organising effort. “This recognition bid only comes after years of effort by our members and could not have happened without the support of many of our non-member colleagues too,” she said. “We hope lots more people will now feel comfortable to join the union, but even for those that don’t, we ask that they remain supportive of the cause as we move forward with momentum towards our key objectives of pay transparency, fairer crunch practices and better flexible working arrangements.” With Grand Theft Auto VI due in November, Rockstar’s response over the coming 10 working days will set the tone for how the standoff plays out ahead of launch.