Grand Theft Auto (GTA) maker Rockstar Games has been accused by a trade union of sacking staff in the UK to stop them from unionising.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents people working in the gaming sector, said 31 workers were fired from Rockstar’s UK studios on 30 October.

The union led rallies outside the company’s offices in Edinburgh and London on Thursday to protest what it described as “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry”.

The BBC has approached Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, for comment, which has reportedly claimed staff were sacked for sharing confidential information.

“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,” a Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.

“This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”

At large video game studios, information about game development is tightly controlled – with employees often signing agreements not to share confidential information.

Rockstar’s upcoming GTA 6 is expected to be one of the best-selling games of all time, with fans clamouring for any news ahead of its May 2026 release date – meaning security around any information will be heightened at the studio.

But union president Alex Marshall accused Rockstar of deflecting from the “real reason” for firing staff – which the IWGB believes is their union involvement.

“They are afraid of hard working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice,” he said.

“Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA 6, and that they’re prioritising union busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”

According to the IWGB, the UK workers fired at the end of October were part of a group discussing forming a union at the company.

Mr Marshall said its only non-Rockstar employees were union organisers.

“We refute that confidential information was shared publicly,” IWGB said in a statement.

Dr Paolo Ruffino, senior lecturer in digital curation and computational creativity at Kings College London, said it was a “textbook” case of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being used by gaming firms.

“They’re used at every level in gaming, creating a culture of secrecy that makes investigating working conditions nearly impossible,” he said.

“The real question is whether these dismissals were about leaked information or protected union activity – a distinction UK employment law requires but which NDA allegations make difficult to prove.”

Speaking to the BBC at a picket outside the Rockstar North office in Edinburgh, organiser Fred Carter said he was standing alongside staff who had been sacked “without warning” and “without reason”.

“They’ve been fired, we believe, because they’re union members – which is a protected activity in the UK,” he said.

“We’re asking people to come out and support us, to demand their jobs back and demand accountability from Rockstar.”

A former employee speaking at the Edinburgh rally said there was a “power imbalance” at play in conversations with management.

“Not everyone is comfortable speaking up, and even when you do you can get shut down because you’re just one person,” they said.