About 1,600 Rockstar UK Staff Vote on Union Ahead of GTA 6

About 1,600 Rockstar employees in the UK are scheduled to vote from 12 to 26 November 2026 on forming a union that could become the largest trade-union branch in the UK games industry.

Senior GameFile reporter Stephen Totilo detailed staff efforts to organize an independent union. The proposed recognition agreement could cover roughly 1,600 employees across Rockstar's UK studios, spanning roles up to one grade below senior management.

Rockstar employs more than 4,700 people across 12 offices worldwide.

The recognition ballot runs 12 to 26 November 2026 (21 Aban to 5 Azar 1405) and the window includes GTA 6's scheduled release on 28 Aban.

If approved, the new branch, Rockstar Workers, would sit under the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, or IWGB, and become the largest union grouping in the UK games sector.

IWGB said that after months of negotiation staff representatives and Rockstar management agreed on the ballot mechanism. The union says recognition would give employees a direct role in negotiations over pay and bonuses, overtime, redundancies, remote work and the use of generative AI.

Shanti Easton Steele, a senior member of the unionization committee, described the vote as a historic opportunity and said staff want more transparency in managerial decisions, particularly on the gender pay gap, mandatory overtime or crunch and job security after GTA 6's release.

Rockstar is also facing a legal dispute over the dismissal of 31 employees in October 2025. IWGB alleges the firings were linked to union activities; Rockstar denies the claim and says the dismissals followed serious misconduct and disclosure of confidential business information.

Final submissions in that case are due on 17 and 18 November 2026, days before GTA 6's release. Jennifer Kolb, Rockstar's head of publishing, previously told Bloomberg the company will respect employees' decision on unionization.

The 1,600 figure refers to the number of employees who could be covered by the recognition agreement, not the final number of voters or confirmed members, and the vote outcome is not yet determined.