Rockstar UK staff to vote on union recognition as GTA VI launches

Rockstar Games employees in the UK will vote between November 12th and 26th on whether to recognise the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union (RSGWU), a ballot that runs across the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th.

The RSGWU announced the vote on X (formerly Twitter), saying that staff "will get to have their own say over union recognition." According to the announcement, the vote follows months of negotiations, and staff will cast anonymous votes online on a recognition deal agreed between management and workers. The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said that if employees vote in favour, the result would create the biggest recognised union in the UK games sector.

The IWGB Game Workers branch said on X that the agreement would "grant workers a say over issues including pay and bonuses, overtime, redundancies, flexible working, and generative AI policies." The union's own post also named pensions and parental leave.

Union says the vote is about openness

RSGWU Committee Member Shanti Easton-Steel said in a statement shared by the union: "This November, we have the chance to make gaming history not once but twice. As all our hard work, skill and creativity are experienced by GTA VI players for the first time, our voices as workers will now be heard for the first time too."

Easton-Steel added that the ballot was about getting "honesty and openness" over decisions at the studio, pointing to the gender pay gap, "the uneven policies on overtime pay," and worries among staff about job security after release. "I'm immensely proud of the games Rockstar gives its fans - I want to be equally proud of the voice Rockstar gives its staff," Easton-Steel said.

Rockstar and the IWGB's earlier dispute

The vote comes a year after a public clash between the two sides. On October 31st 2025, the IWGB said Rockstar had fired more than 30 UK staff who were members of a private union Discord channel, and IWGB President Alex Marshall called it "the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry." In November 2025, the union issued legal claims against the studio, alleging trade union victimisation and blacklisting, and said at the time that Rockstar had declined to meet with it.

No statement from Rockstar or its parent company Take-Two Interactive was included in the union's announcement. GTA VI is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19th, a date Rockstar reaffirmed with its launch trailer earlier this month.

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John Popko

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