Rockstar's UK staff vote on unionizing from November 12 to 26, right as GTA VI launches
We break down the IWGB union vote at Rockstar: November 12 to 26, with the November 19 launch in the middle. What's on the ballot (pay, overtime, redundancies, AI), what Kolbe and the union say, and why it overlaps with the end of the 31 dismissals case.
Status: Report. Announced by the IWGB union and reported by PC Gamer and GameSpot. Rockstar hasn't commented on the vote.
Rockstar's UK staff vote from November 12 to 26 on recognizing the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union. The ballot spans GTA VI's November 19 launch. If it passes, it would be the largest recognized union in the UK games industry, according to the IWGB.
What's on the ballot
The recognition deal was negotiated over months between the union and management. If it goes through, staff get a collective say on:
- pay and bonuses,
- overtime,
- redundancies,
- flexible and remote working,
- and generative AI policies.
Rockstar North in Edinburgh is one of Rockstar's biggest UK studios and the lead developer on GTA VI, GameSpot notes.
The 31 case, in its final stretch
The vote overlaps with the end of the tribunal over the October 2025 dismissals. Closing arguments are set for November 17 and 18, per GameSpot. Rockstar says it fired the workers for leaking details about its games; the IWGB calls it "the most brazen act of union busting the games industry has ever seen," per PC Gamer.
What each side says
- Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar's head of publishing, to Bloomberg: "We go where the team goes. So if they want a union, they will have a union."
- Shanti Easton-Steel, union committee member: as players experience the team's work, "our voices will now be heard for the first time too." She points to the gender pay gap, shifting overtime policies and job security concerns after release.
- Alex Marshall, IWGB president: the vote is "just as historic as the game release."
Should the people who make the biggest games be unionized? Tell us in the forum.
The Leonida Read
Certainty: Likely
For players, this doesn't change the game on the 19th. It does change the backdrop: the studio behind the year's biggest launch votes on unionizing right as the first reviews and sales come in.
It caps a long year. It started with the 31 dismissals and the Glasgow tribunal, where Rockstar argues there were leaks and the union argues there was union busting. Over the summer the group asked for voluntary recognition and, per Bloomberg's feature, Rockstar began meeting it every week. Now there's a deal to vote, and both sides have agreed on what it covers.
What to watch: the November 26 result, the tribunal's closing arguments on the 17th and 18th, and the ruling, which will come later.
Our take: holding the vote over launch isn't an accident on the union's part, and Rockstar knows it. Kolbe's line leaves little room to back out if the yes side wins, and a yes at the studio behind GTA VI would be hard for the rest of the industry to ignore.
The Leonida Hub desk