Late last week, allegations surfaced against Rockstar Games claiming that the publisher had laid off over 30 employees in an effort 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 dismissals resulted from 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.”
Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, carried out the layoffs on October 31. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) condemned the move as a “ruthless act of unionbusting.”
The affected employees had been part of a private trade union chat on Discord, where conversations about unionization efforts at Rockstar took place.
So far, the IWGB has not responded to Rockstar’s latest statement. Shacknews has reached out to the union for comment and will update this post with any response.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146702/rockstar-games-layoffs-november-2025-confidential-information
