Rockstar Games Workers Union Seeks Formal Recognition

This article is part of a series about Rockstar Games and working conditions in the video games industry.

Rockstar Games could become just the second UK games studio with a recognised union after developers applied for voluntary recognition of the IWGB Games Workers Union.

Formal recognition of the union would grant additional protections and rights for members, creating a structure for collective bargaining on prevalent issues such as pay transparency, flexible working, and excessive overtime (crunch).

Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM is the only other studio in the UK with a recognised union, setting the example for an industry that has fallen behind in terms of organised labour.

It comes amid a protracted legal battle between the AAA games studio and a cohort of employees that were controversially terminated last year. The case, which will be heard by a UK employment tribunal starting in September, has become a glaring flashpoint in conversations about how games studios treat their workers.

Rockstar has been accused of failing its workforce by not addressing gender-based pay inequality, actively mandating crunch in the UK, and weaponizing bonus payments against employees.

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Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive have cultivated a culture of disparity and injustice in the workplace that has created discontent among a growing number of its staff.

These claims are an extension of the impending wrongful dismissal case in which Rockstar is accused of union-busting. The outcome of the case is expected to be a landmark ruling for labour relations in the video games industry.

Union representatives have highlighted that pre-orders for ‘GTA VI’ currently total more than $3 billion since going on sale last week, a sum that could easily meet employee pay demands. Take-Two previously reported expected profits of $8 billion for the coming financial year, largely owing to the release of ‘GTA VI’.

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