UK politicians condemn Rockstar over disputed dismissals of 34 workers

Chris Murray put Rockstar’s disputed dismissals squarely in front of Keir Starmer, arguing the company had not properly engaged appeal processes after the firings. The Labour MP, whose Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency includes Rockstar North, raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on 10 December 2025, and Starmer called it a “deeply concerning case” while saying ministers would look into it.

The pressure did not come from Westminster alone. An Early Day Motion tabled on 18 November 2025 gathered seven signatures and said staff had been dismissed without warning from Rockstar studios in Dundee, Edinburgh and Lincoln. It also said some of the workers had been involved with the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, and that protests followed outside Rockstar offices in both Edinburgh and London. The motion added that some dismissed staff lost visa sponsorship, raising the stakes well beyond a standard employment dispute.

Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has stuck to its own explanation. It said the firings were for “gross misconduct” tied to the alleged sharing and discussion of confidential information in a public forum. The IWGB and affected workers have rejected that account and described the dismissals as anti-union retaliation, turning the case into a wider test of how Rockstar handles labour conflict under a global spotlight.

That matters because the dispute is unfolding in the shadow of Grand Theft Auto VI, the biggest release on Rockstar’s slate. Take-Two said on 6 November 2025 that GTA VI would launch on 19 November 2026, which means the studio is trying to keep a major production moving while facing political scrutiny, protests and continuing legal disputes over its staff cuts.

For GTA players, the real question is no longer whether this is just a symbolic backlash. Parliamentary condemnation is one thing, but a fight over dismissals, appeal procedures, union claims and visa sponsorship can feed directly into morale, trust and day-to-day stability inside a studio that is supposed to be building the next GTA at full speed. The row has already moved far beyond a headline, and it now sits right next to Rockstar’s most important deadline.