Rockstar will hold union vote right on top of Grand Theft Auto 6 release

Rockstar employees are scheduled to hold a two-week union recognition vote in November, timed to overlap with the console release of Grand Theft Auto 6. If successful, the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union would become the largest game industry union in the UK, granting workers influence over pay, bonuses, overtime, redundancies, flexible work, and AI policies. Negotiations between the union and Rockstar management began in July, but organizing efforts predate those talks. The process gained urgency after Rockstar fired 31 employees in October 2025, which the union described as an aggressive act of union suppression, while Rockstar alleged the staff were leaking GTA 6 details via a public Discord server.

The vote will take place from November 12 to 26, covering the week before and after GTA 6’s November 19 console launch. A union victory would mark the first major organized labor recognition in a major UK game studio, giving employees formal bargaining rights. Union representatives framed the vote as a chance to address longstanding workplace concerns, including gender pay disparities, inconsistent overtime policies, and job security fears following the game’s release.

Rockstar has not publicly commented on the upcoming vote, but company leadership indicated in recent interviews that the studio would accept the outcome. Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar’s head of publishing, stated in a Bloomberg feature that the company would not oppose unionization if employees chose it, saying, "We go where the team goes. So if they want a union, they will have a union."

Union committee member Shanti Easton-Steel emphasized that the vote represents a pivotal moment for worker representation at Rockstar. She described the push for transparency in management decisions, highlighting issues such as pay equity, fluctuating overtime rules, and job security concerns post-launch. IWGB president Alex Marshall echoed the significance, calling the vote historic not only for the industry but as a personal choice for Rockstar staff about workplace autonomy and daily working conditions.