Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar fires between 30 and 40 employees

Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive have come under fire for the layoffs of between 30 and 40 employees recently. While the official reason for the firings was gross misconduct, there's a belief that the employees at Rockstar's UK and Canada offices were let go because of unionisation.

"Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry," said Alex Marshall, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain president (via Bloomberg.) "This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry."

Take-Two maintains the firings were due to no other reason than gross misconduct. With Grand Theft Auto VI just over six months away from release (if it can hit the 26th of May 2026 launch), there could be fears within Rockstar of another leak. Or, perhaps this was an unfair firing of employees trying to unionise. As we're not privy to the matters going on internally, we can't comment with any level of authority besides what has been reported.