Rockstar UK Staff Will Vote on Union Recognition From November 12, Right Through the GTA 6 Launch

Rockstar Games staff in the UK will vote from November 12 to November 26, 2026, on whether to recognise the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union. GTA 6 launches on November 19, in the middle of the ballot, Game Developer reported.

The vote is on a recognition deal that workers and management have already agreed, according to The Escapist. Staff will accept or reject it in an anonymous online ballot.

What union recognition would cover

A yes vote would give staff a collective say on these areas, according to the union:

• Pay and bonuses
• Overtime
• Redundancies
• Flexible working
• The studio's policies on generative AI

The IWGB says a successful ballot would make it the largest recognised union in the UK games industry. Neither report gives the number of staff eligible to vote or names the individual UK studios included.

What Rockstar and the union have said

Shanti Easton-Steel, a committee member of the Rockstar Game Workers Union, said the vote "comes down to ensuring employees at Rockstar get honesty and openness". She added: "When management choices are kept hidden, we can't properly address issues like the gender pay gap."

Rockstar's head of publishing, Jennifer Kolbe, has said in an earlier comment that "we go where the team goes. If they want a union, they will have a union."

The separate tribunal over the 2025 firings

The ballot is separate from the employment tribunal over Rockstar's dismissal of more than 30 staff in 2025. Rockstar says they were fired for gross misconduct; the IWGB and the former employees call it union busting. Closing arguments are set for November 17 and 18, and a ruling is expected to take longer than that. Earlier hearings included claims about informants inside the union's Discord, which Rockstar called baseless.

The ballot closes on November 26, a week after GTA 6 is released.