Late last week, allegations surfaced against Rockstar Games claiming that the publisher had laid off over 30 employees in an attempt to suppress union activity.
Rockstar initially stated that the layoffs were due to “gross misconduct.” On Wednesday, the company provided further clarification, explaining that the layoffs were the result of employees leaking confidential information.
A Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg, “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.”
The layoffs, which took place on October 31, were carried out by Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) condemned the move, calling it a “ruthless act of unionbusting.”
The affected employees had been part of a private trade union chat on Discord, where unionization efforts at Rockstar were being discussed.
As of now, the IWGB has not issued a response to Rockstar’s latest statement. Shacknews has reached out to the union for comment and will update this post should a response be received.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146702/rockstar-games-layoffs-november-2025-confidential-information
