Rockstar Games vs. the Union: The Prime Minister, Mutual Accusations Between R* and IWGB
OPla G
yesterday 15:30
23
1For more than a month now, the scandal that Rockstar Games has been drawn into has shown no signs of dying down.
At the beginning of December, the geography of the protests expanded. American unions — the Alphabet Workers Union and the Tech Workers Coalition — joined the initiative and on the 5th organized a rally on Broadway, outside the company’s main office in New York.
Authorities are also making efforts to resolve the situation. The dismissal of 34 employees was raised at Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee. The committee decided to contact Rockstar and Take-Two directly and, in the meantime, to provide help to the downsized staff.
Member of Parliament Chris Murray stated that he and his colleagues Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur had planned to hold talks with studio management. It allegedly began with a request to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA), which the politicians refused. During the discussion, the parliamentarians were not convinced that what happened to the workers was necessary or lawful.
Then the issue escalated to an entirely new level. On December 10, the same Murray addressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a session of the House of Lords (the country’s highest legislative body). After hearing the report, the Prime Minister promised that ministers would take the matter under special oversight. A Rockstar Games spokesperson commented to IGN, stating that around thirty people were dismissed for disclosing “confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles)” (which ones exactly, of course, were not specified — nor was GTA 6 mentioned). The company rejects accusations of union-busting.
Representatives of the Independent Workers of Great Britain responded by accusing the Rockstar of lying and spreading disinformation. Union officials insist that no discussion of work projects took place on Discord — only matters related to working conditions were discussed.
One possible cause of the conflict may be the fact that the server reportedly included a journalist, a developer from a competing company, and many other anonymous individuals. IWGB claims they moderated the chat participants and that no outsiders could have been present. R*, in turn, countered that the union has no real idea what was happening on that Discord server.
Member of Parliament Chris Murray stated that he and his colleagues Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur had planned to hold talks with studio management. It allegedly began with a request to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA), which the politicians refused. During the discussion, the parliamentarians were not convinced that what happened to the workers was necessary or lawful.
Then the issue escalated to an entirely new level. On December 10, the same Murray addressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a session of the House of Lords (the country’s highest legislative body). After hearing the report, the Prime Minister promised that ministers would take the matter under special oversight. A Rockstar Games spokesperson commented to IGN, stating that around thirty people were dismissed for disclosing “confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles)” (which ones exactly, of course, were not specified — nor was GTA 6 mentioned). The company rejects accusations of union-busting.
Representatives of the Independent Workers of Great Britain responded by accusing the Rockstar of lying and spreading disinformation. Union officials insist that no discussion of work projects took place on Discord — only matters related to working conditions were discussed.
