It’s never a good thing when a company is accused of bad business practices. Sadly, you could argue that we’re getting more of those in the last few years than we have in some of the earliest and wildest times in gaming history. After all, some companies are content with doing things like hiring AI over people, or not protecting their co-workers/employees, and listening to complaints about harassment and other crimes. Then, there’s the situation with Rockstar Games, which has been accused of “union-busting” after releasing about 40 people from their company. Now, a protest is happening at this very moment outside of one of the company’s main locations, and they have even taken the protest to publisher Take-Two Interactive!
To be more specific, the protest started this morning at Rockstar North’s Edinburgh location and Take-Two Interactive’s London headquarters. Just like in the initial complaint against the company, they are accusing them of union-busting. You can see the protest for yourself in the tweet below:
Now, you might recall that we did just write a piece about what Rockstar Games had to say about this matter, as they noted that the people fired weren’t dismissed because of “Union Busting,” but because the people were leaking information on Discord. That would be a lot of leaking.
However, in the protests, one of the group read out a message from a dismissed worker, making their own statement about the claims Rockstar threw at them:
“I was dismissed without warning, without evidence, and without a chance to speak for myself. All because I talked with colleagues in a private union chat. We weren’t leaking anything or trying to harm the company. We were supporting each other, trying to understand our workplace and make it better. To lose my job for that feels deeply unfair. No one should be punished for being part of a union, or for speaking honestly about their work.”
Things are clearly getting quite intense, as multiple union groups are not just siding with the protestors, but are stating that they need to be reinstated at the company. Rockstar, naturally, is holding its ground on the matter.
Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess, as there are many factors that could lead to one side or the other being proven right or wrong in due time. However, if Rockstar is to blame, this is a black eye they will not want to have leading into the release of a certain big-name title next year.
