The Rockstar Games Workers Union, backed by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), has moved into formal recognition talks with studio management. It called the first meeting a “step in the right direction,” and, with Grand Theft Auto VI getting closer, treated it as an early win.
The next big sticking point is the bargaining unit. The union, again with IWGB backing, says the meeting set out a roadmap for fast negotiations. If Rockstar Games agrees to voluntary recognition, the union would be able to bargain legally over pay and working conditions. If it says no, the case goes to the UK’s Central Arbitration Committee.
What the union wants is pretty clear: an end to crunch and unpaid overtime, better pay transparency, flexible work, and a commitment to avoid layoffs. Those demands come after years of criticism over alleged 80-hour weeks and pressure to work nights and weekends at Rockstar Games. Then there were the more than 30 dismissals in October 2025, which the IWGB called union busting. Rockstar Games said those departures were linked to staff publicly sharing confidential information.
If you keep up with Rockstar Games, or with labor news in the games industry more broadly, this is one to watch. The IWGB says this is Europe’s largest game studio union, and it’s now testing how much leverage it really has at a time of wider layoffs across the industry, and just before the launch of an enormously expensive Grand Theft Auto VI.
You can follow the campaign through the IWGB and Rockstar Games in the UK.
Author: Jay Ricson Biñas
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