Rockstar union vote would give staff a say on pay and AI

Rockstar's UK employees will vote on a union recognition deal that would give them a formal say over pay, overtime and generative AI policies. The ballot runs from November 12 to 26, spanning GTA 6's November 19 launch.

The terms have already been agreed by workers and management, according to an IWGB press release quoted by Rock Paper Shotgun. Staff will decide whether to recognise the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union, with the proposed deal also covering bonuses, redundancies and flexible working arrangements.

Recognition would establish formal collective bargaining with management. It would not mean organising at Rockstar was starting from scratch: in its June 30 recognition request announcement, the IWGB said members had been organising since 2019 across Edinburgh, Dundee, Lincoln, Leeds and London. The union said recognition would also give representatives and members additional workplace protections and rights.

The IWGB says a successful vote would make this the largest recognised union in the UK games industry. It would follow ZA/UM, whose workers achieved recognition in October 2025, according to the union's June announcement.

As Rockstar Report reported, the ballot also overlaps with the employment tribunal over Rockstar's 2025 dismissals. These are separate processes: the vote concerns future bargaining rights, while the tribunal concerns whether employees were unlawfully dismissed. Former workers and the IWGB allege union busting; Rockstar says confidential information was shared in an insecure online forum. Closing arguments are scheduled for November 17 and 18, but a ruling is not expected immediately afterwards.

Job security after GTA 6's release is among the concerns driving the recognition campaign. Union committee member Shanti Easton-Steel said in a statement quoted by Game Developer: “When management choices are kept hidden, we can’t properly address issues like the gender pay gap, the uneven and ever-changing policies on overtime pay, or the concerns many co-workers hold around job security post-release.”