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GTA 6 Developers Announce Rockstar Games Union - RockstarINTEL

GTA 6 developers have formally announced a union to combat Rockstar Games’ actions which will be debated in court. On Thursday, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and Rockstar staff members announced the Rockstar Game Workers Union. This union will be part of the IWGB. The...

rockstarintel.com

GTA 6 developers have formally announced a union to combat Rockstar Games' actions which will be debated in court.

On Thursday, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and Rockstar staff members announced the Rockstar Game Workers Union. This union will be part of the IWGB. The reveal came in the form of an informative video which delves into their motives and what we should be looking out for in the future.

This union is the one facing a legal battle with Rockstar. Over 30 employees were fired last year for "gross misconduct" which the IWGB disputes as an act of union busting. As time has passed, the union has now been fully set up and is looking to fight Rockstar Games in court. A date for the trial in court has been set though not been published by the union just yet.

The Rockstar Game Workers Union say in their video that Rockstar's actions towards those 30+ staffers charged others to join the union. Whilst most of the affected workers were based at Rockstar North in Edinburgh, the seeds have spread far and wide. The union claims a sizeable number of Rockstar employees from their London, Leeds, Lincoln and Dundee offices have joined forces with the many others in Edinburgh.

Together, we are organising around the things we want to change. Starting with:

• Pay transparency
• Flexible working
• An end to crunch

Rockstar IWGB Game Workers Union

The Rockstar IWGB Game Workers Union have created BlueSky, Instagram and Twitter accounts for you to follow and receive updates from. There is also a page to donate towards their legal battle with Rockstar here.

 

[geary]

 

[Jinzo Prime]

GTA 7 won't come out until 2045 without crunch. You GTA fans better love and cherish 6, 'cause it's going to be the last of it's kind.

 

[amigastar]

Crunch on

 

[ThisIsMyDog]

commies wants to destroy gaming

 

[Hidden Trace]

For fuck's sake. GTA VI is never releasing, is it?

 

[Embearded]

The flexible working request can be a bit of a stretch, depending on what exactly they mean and what are the limits.
To be able to change your working hours for a time period because of a difficulty you are facing in your personal life is acceptable.
If you ask to work permanently in hours that the rest of the team doesn't and you create a delay of 1 day for things to happen, maybe that place is no longer good for you.

I am all in for jobs to have all the benefits in the world, but in the end you are there to produce something and create profit for your employers. If you don't like this, don't join the business.

 

[6502]

The flexible working request can be a bit of a stretch, depending on what exactly they mean and what are the limits.
To be able to change your working hours for a time period because of a difficulty you are facing in your personal life is acceptable.
If you ask to work permanently in hours that the rest of the team doesn't and you create a delay of 1 day for things to happen, maybe that place is no longer good for you.

I am all in for jobs to have all the benefits in the world, but in the end you are there to produce something and create profit for your employers. If you don't like this, don't join the business.

I am afraid the law is changing in the UK and the company has to have a business case to decline. At the end of the day devs like any worker aren't supposed to be husks working themselves to an early grave so that the same twats charging you £80 a game, point cards etc can get a better holiday.
I've been in a company that moved from 8-6 mon to sat to 24/7 and 1 week rota visibility and the bitch director, when staff asked for more visibility for families said "having children is a life choice and not our problem". As usual she moved on to ruin another company within 2 years.
Unions and laws are needed because corporations are run by sociopaths.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Hope this delays GTA 6 into 2028.

 

[Gaiff]

The one thing Gaf hates more than woke games: workers' rights.

 

[ultrazilla]

This is basically the devs "getting their piece of the pie" with the sure to be highest grossing piece of entertainment ever.

I can't say I blame them. The people that are putting this game together *should* reap hefty bonuses instead of the corporate suits who will get their cut anyways.

This is almost mirroring the Samsung chip makers/workers Union situation regarding the massive ai chip profits and those workers getting their "cut". Apparently they just accepted $400,000 bonuses.

 

[I wasn't selling any]

The one thing Gaf hates more than woke games: workers' rights.

Yep. GAF hates when someone has better working conditions than they do. And we're talking about multi billion dollar companies that can easily create way better working conditions for their employees. For GAF someone asking for better working conditions = untalented, uninspired lazy, fat commie fuck.

 

[Hudo]

GTA 7 won't come out until 2045 without crunch. You GTA fans better love and cherish 6, 'cause it's going to be the last of it's kind.

GTA 7 wouldn't have come out any faster even without any unions. The project management at R* is fucking dogshit.

 

[Bojji]

commies wants to destroy gaming

So far capitalistic corporations are doing this quite efficiently.

The one thing Gaf hates more than woke games: workers' rights.

I'm anti woke but pro workers rights, where do I fit?!

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[Sohurmk833]

So far capitalistic corporations are doing this quite efficiently.

Funnily enough by hiring loads of leftists.

 

[Bojji]

Funnily enough by hiring loads of leftists.

This is true, but what also is true is that they are screwing their workers with shit contracts and outsourcing so much stuff to developing countries. Plus managers can be morons and know nothing about gaming.

Leftists workers are just part of the problem.

 

[Sohurmk833]

This is true, but what also is true is that they are screwing their workers with shit contracts and outsourcing so much stuff to developing countries. Plus managers can be morons and know nothing about gaming.

Leftists workers are just part of the problem.

Yeah i don't blame a single side here. The corporations are as bad as the clowns they hire. It's just an all around shitshow of epic proportions. That's why i pretty much bailed from western made video games (rare exceptions and retro stuff excluded).

 

[Germuso]

Ii's like those devs tik tok videos.

8:00 am a coffe and speaking with coworkers, then work a hour.

11:00 breakfast

12:00 working a hour.

13:00 gym at work.

14:00 get home.

 

[StueyDuck]

Anyone with half a brain at rockstar will steer clear away from this retard shit.

That name on your CV alone opens doors that most people dream of. No need to burn bridges even if you dont like working there.

Once blacklisted, always blacklisted

 

[Ðuelist]

Why are you against this? Are you retarded?

 

[Raven117]

GTA 7 won't come out until 2045 without crunch. You GTA fans better love and cherish 6, 'cause it's going to be the last of its kind.

I hope you aren't correct….. but you might be

 

[Kilau]

Fuck this stupid game.

 

[geary]

Why are you against this? Are you retarded?

When did I say I was against it? Calling someone retarded over a gif just shows you might have some confidence issues.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Unionizing can be a good thing for efficiency and workflow if management keeps pressure on the union workers.

I am in a union and we have good hours and rights, but we sure as hell better be doing what we are supposed to be doing during the work day and not fucking around or else we are done for.

I don't mind it because the conditions are agreed upon and fair, but for those 8 hours I work my ass of but the moment the day is done it's done. Nothing more. I don't work in tech, though.

 

[Holammer]

Don't call it an Union, call it a "Guild". It confuses the hell out of people.
It worked for SAG.

 

[Ishma3L]

Pro workers!? More like pro WOKERS.... AM I RITE!?


Alright, I'll be leaving now.

 

[Mr Moose]

Rockstar going to sue them for copyright.

 

[MagusMajul]

disgusting and terrible Idea, I would shut down my own business before I ever let my employees unionize

 

[Sticks]

 

[RCX]

GTA7 co-developed in Japan, South Korea and China. boxart made in the UK.

 

[PeteBull]

GTA7 co-developed in Japan, South Korea and China. boxart made in the UK.

I actually would be perfectly fine with that, think of a gta7 placed like sleeping dogs in hong kong(or tokyo, maybe even seul), protag being modern day bruce lee/jakie chan/jet li combo , with all their culture, gangs(triads/yakuza etc), that would be pure fire and welcome change after so many gta's placed in the US
Oh, and bonus bit, we would actually be driving in crowded asian cities, unlike FH6 that has tokyo looking like a desert

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

commies wants to destroy gaming

All that's going to happen if devs unionize is they'll get replaced with AI.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Unionizing can be a good thing for efficiency and workflow if management keeps pressure on the union workers.

I am in a union and we have good hours and rights, but we sure as hell better be doing what we are supposed to be doing during the work day and not fucking around or else we are done for.

I don't mind it because the conditions are agreed upon and fair, but for those 8 hours I work my ass of but the moment the day is done it's done. Nothing more. I don't work in tech, though.

What are you doing in here trying to say it can be a good thing? WTF?

Reading some comments in this thread, I thought unions' sole purpose is to come into your house and kill the kids, take a shit on your lawn and expropriate your ass out, all in the name of communism /s

 

[calico]

Rockstar had a good run.

 

[rm082e]

Good for them. I hope it provides the intended protection.

 

[amigastar]

Good for them. I hope it provides the intended protection.

You are a real gentleman, sir. Not shitting on them and all.

 

[SJRB]

> go work at the biggest videogame developer in the world notorious for brutal crunch
> "wow the crunch here is brutal"

This shit is so funny to me.

 

[Boss Mog]

Get the game out and then just fire these people.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

GTA7 co-developed in Japan, South Korea and China. boxart made in the UK.

 

[Meicyn]

Unionizing can be a good thing for efficiency and workflow if management keeps pressure on the union workers.

I am in a union and we have good hours and rights, but we sure as hell better be doing what we are supposed to be doing during the work day and not fucking around or else we are done for.

I don't mind it because the conditions are agreed upon and fair, but for those 8 hours I work my ass of but the moment the day is done it's done. Nothing more. I don't work in tech, though.

Yeah, I don't understand the reactions this forum generally has towards unions as a whole. Are unions bad? They absolutely can be, and there are countless cases of this reality. But that doesn't make unions inherently bad, no more so than a business or non-profit incorporating itself to prevent personal liability. It's just folks aiming to protect themselves.

 

[Pop]

The last GTA coming ever. Better enjoy it

 

[Stafford]

For fuck's sake. GTA VI is never releasing, is it?

Why wouldn't it get released because of this? I don't see the logic. 7 on the other hand......

 

[diablos991]

GTA6 is going to be the last good one now.
Hopefully the IP can be sold to another dev at somepoint.

 

[HRK69]

Hopefully the IP can be sold to another dev at somepoint.

Interesting strategy: if you're worried about quality, give it to a completely different developer

 

[coachmcguirk91]

GTA6 is going to be the last good one now.
Hopefully the IP can be sold to another dev at somepoint.

Don't worry, we still got 1600 employees at Rockstar India working 16hr days. Probably living at the studio, with a line of replacements waiting outside

 

[Topher]

• Pay transparency
• Flexible working
• An end to crunch

Flexible working and crunch are pretty common, but what is pay transparency? It sounds like they want to know how much everyone in the company makes. If so, fuck that. No one's business how much I make and someone joining a union doesn't change that.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Yeah, I don't understand the reactions this forum generally has towards unions as a whole. Are unions bad? They absolutely can be, and there are countless cases of this reality. But that doesn't make unions inherently bad, no more so than a business or non-profit incorporating itself to prevent personal liability. It's just folks aiming to protect themselves.

Yup. Unionizing introduces protections but also accountability. The rules and terms become clear cut and you better be a good and productive employee or you lose that protection. Some people seem to think unions lead to a get out of jail free card where employees can become lazy, but unions mostly lead to workers agreeing to work their ass off at the job they're hired for and management agrees to never fuck with their 40 hour work week or treat them like a drone without personal lives.

But in the sake of realism, are there people that will take advantage of being in a union and push the envelope and hide behind the union? Yes. But typically most union members hate those type of people within their own union.

I work closely with a guy who is always playing union politics and is always pessimistic about the actual job. That's not why I'm there. The union isn't my job. The job is my job.

Flexible working and crunch are pretty common, but what is pay transparency? It sounds like they want to know how much everyone in the company makes. If so, fuck that. No one's business how much I make and someone joining a union doesn't change that.

This is typically to prevent stagnating wages for long term employees whilst managers giving higher pay to new nepo hires and such. It allows the union and the world to see management playing favoritism.

This is a good thing typically and it can lead to pay equality and help control budgets. A rogue manager can't higher their incompetent best friend at 50% higher than the normal rate.

I bet a ton of this type of stuff goes on in the game dev scene. Managers hiring friends or like minded people and giving them more money than they deserve compared to their experience / skill level.

No one can tell me a game that takes 5 years and $300 million budget to make has no mismanagement problems and that money isn't being wasted. Pay transparency provides accountability to control that budget because everyone can see if money is being wasted or "laundered" because of nepo hiring.

 

[Amish Death Metal]

Literally every major company has a union busting division. They just don't call it "union busting", they use terms like "Labor Relations Board" and those people are paid EXTREMELY WELL.

 

[PaintTinJr]

Literally every major company has a union busting division. They just don't call it "union busting", they use terms like "Labor Relations Board" and those people are paid EXTREMELY WELL.

I'm guessing that's a US thing.

In the UK a barrister would be needed for such a department to advise on the law, but because the union busting activities under UK law are illegal the barrister/s would be at high risk of being reported to the Bar and on review being disbarred for failing act as the advocate of the courts that comes with that professional standing.