Grand Theft Auto 6 has a chokehold on the gaming industry. Rival studios have completely avoided November launch windows to not compete against Rockstar Games' money-printing behemoth, and the recent launch of preorders for the game's upcoming release has resulted in a significant boost to Take-Two's stock prices.
Despite Grand Theft Auto 6's undeniable impending success, developers at Rockstar Games are trying to get ahead of the inevitable post-launch layoffs by locking down job security — and they're eyeing unionization to do it.
Alex Marshall, the president of The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), issued a statement that alleges that Rockstar has already generated more than $3 billion in preorder sales for Grand Theft Auto 6, adding, "Rockstar bosses can easily afford to sit around the table with the people whose hard work created these games, and give them a meaningful voice in their workplace."
The games industry has come to see post-launch layoffs as simply 'par for the course'. Freelance developers, marketing interns, and a litany of other roles across the board are often hired on to help push a game across the finish line.
But once a game launches — successfully or otherwise — the demand for these roles takes a nosedive, and large-scale layoffs take effect in an effort to 'streamline' budgets and keep shareholders happy.
While layoffs are an issue in any line of work, the games industry is exceedingly beholden to this ebb and flow of employment. This has led to an increase in game developers seeking unionization as a means of securing protections and rights for workers.
This fight has always been about more than just our own situation - it is about making sure workers across the games industry and beyond have the right to stand together, speak out, and organise for a fairer sector.
Ellie Dunstan
ZA/UM, the studio behind Disco Elysium, successfully unionized in October 2025, becoming the first studio in the UK to do so. Other game studios, like Microsoft-owned Call of Duty developers Raven Software, Blizzard, and id Software, have voluntarily recognized unionization through the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. The CWA currently advocates for workers' rights of more than 4000 workers from Microsoft's game studios.
Some of those studios, including Double Fine, are currently staring down potential layoffs and closures as new XBOX CEO Asha Sharma attempts to achieve a corporate 'reset.'
Rockstar Games, however, has not yet formally recognized the union efforts among its own teams. Instead, the studio has faced accusations of 'union busting' activities, including the termination of more than 30 employees attempting to unionize in October 2025.
Rockstar Games has denied union-busting activities and alleged that the terminated workers had discussed confidential information about upcoming games via public forums, breaching company policy in doing so. The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) sees things differently, however, and has supported the dismissed workers in legal proceedings to determine if Rockstar's terminations were unlawful.
Earlier this month, an employment tribunal ruled against Rockstar Games, upholding the workers' right to allege that Rockstar has participated in blacklisting workers involved in union activity as part of its lawsuit against the studio.
It's worth highlighting that it is illegal under UK law to unfairly treat employees for union activities, just as every worker in the UK has the right to be a member of a trade union. A company, in this case Rockstar, does not have to recognize a union voluntarily, but certified unions can apply for statutory recognition if the organization meets certain criteria.
Rockstar's situation is a reflection of a broader reckoning unfolding across the games industry. Workers are pushing back against a cycle of boom-and-bust employment and looking to instead cultivate work environments that offer stability and fair employment terms.
"This fight has always been about more than just our own situation - it is about making sure workers across the games industry and beyond have the right to stand together, speak out, and organise for a fairer sector," said Ellie Dunstan, one of the employees previously terminated by Rockstar in October.
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