Late last week, allegations surfaced against Rockstar Games claiming that the publisher had laid off over 30 employees in an attempt to suppress union activity.
Rockstar had initially stated that the layoffs were due to “gross misconduct.” On Wednesday, the company provided further clarification, explaining that the term referred to the leaking of confidential information.
A Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg, “Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies. This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
The layoffs, carried out by Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive on October 31, drew sharp criticism from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which condemned the move as a “ruthless act of unionbusting.”
The affected employees had been part of a private trade union chat on Discord, where discussions about unionization efforts at Rockstar were taking place.
So far, the IWGB has not issued a response to Rockstar’s latest statement. Shacknews has reached out to the union for comment and will update this post with any response received.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146702/rockstar-games-layoffs-november-2025-confidential-information