Rockstar workers vote on union recognition as GTA VI launch looms

More than 1,600 Rockstar Games employees in the UK will begin voting on union recognition on Thursday, with the ballot kicking off just a week before the long-awaited launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.

The ballot, which opens on November 12 and runs until November 26, will determine whether Rockstar formally recognizes the Rockstar Game Workers Union, part of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). Nearly all UK employees below director level are eligible to vote.

If successful, the union would become the largest recognized union in the UK games industry, giving workers a collective voice.

The proposed recognition agreement follows four months of negotiations between Rockstar management and employees. It would allow workers to negotiate over pay, overtime, pensions, bonuses, leave and other employment conditions, while securing consultation rights over HR policies and AI.

The vote comes at a particularly busy time for Rockstar, with GTA VI finally due to arrive on November 19, more than 13 years after its predecessor. The game is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, although the people responsible for making it have rather more immediate concerns than sales records.

"I am incredibly proud of the work we've put into making this game. I'm also proud of the union we've built here. For me, those two things are connected," said Nestor Uriate, an animation programmer and Rockstar Game Workers Union representative.

"We care deeply about the games we make, and we want to make sure we can continue doing that work in an environment where we're respected, have a meaningful say over our conditions and can feel secure about our futures."

The vote follows a year of bad blood between Rockstar and the IWGB. The union accused the GTA developer of union busting after it fired 31 members in October 2025, claiming they had been singled out for taking part in a private Discord group.

Rockstar denied the allegations, insisting the workers were dismissed for gross misconduct rather than their union activities.

The dispute subsequently reached an employment tribunal, where Rockstar unsuccessfully attempted to have blacklisting allegations struck from the case. Closing submissions are expected on November 17 and 18, meaning the legal proceedings will reach their final stages just as GTA VI prepares to hit shelves.

Despite the ongoing dispute, Rockstar's head of publishing, Jennifer Kolbe, recently indicated that management would respect the outcome of the recognition vote, telling Bloomberg: "We go where the team goes. So if they want a union, they will have a union."

The union campaign has also attracted support from elsewhere in the games industry, including SAG-AFTRA and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents workers at Blizzard.

Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB, said the vote was an opportunity for Rockstar employees to take greater control over their working conditions.

"What happens at Rockstar matters beyond the studio. Workers across the games industry are watching, and this ballot is an opportunity to show what can be achieved when people come together, organize and build the collective power to shape their own working lives."

For Rockstar, November was already shaping up to be a big month. By the time GTA VI has been in players' hands for a week, the company should also know whether its UK workforce has voted to secure a formal seat at the negotiating table. ®