According to Kotaku, the firing of 34 Grand Theft Auto 6 developers at Rockstar UK in October has escalated to the UK Parliament. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claims the firings for “gross misconduct” were actually union busting, a charge Rockstar denies. On Wednesday, during Prime Minister’s Questions, Chris Murray, the MP for Rockstar’s constituency, raised the issue with Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Murray stated Rockstar had “failed to reassure me they are following employment law.” In response, Starmer called it a “deeply concerning case,” affirmed every worker’s right to join a union, and said ministers would look into it. The IWGB is pursuing unfair dismissal claims against Rockstar.
Parliamentary theater
Now, here’s the thing about Prime Minister’s Questions. It’s mostly a weekly spectacle of political theater, especially at the start. The leaders trade scripted barbs for the headlines. But when it moves to questions from backbench MPs, you sometimes get a genuine issue cutting through the noise. Chris Murray’s question, while almost certainly pre-planned with his own party leader, wasn’t the usual soft-ball nonsense. It forced a public, on-the-record response from the Prime Minister on a specific corporate controversy. That’s actually a pretty big deal. It transforms a labor dispute in Edinburgh into a national political story.
Labour’s union problem
Starmer’s statement is interesting because, well, his own relationship with trade unions is… complicated. The Labour Party was literally founded by the unions. But under Starmer’s leadership, it’s been drifting toward a more centrist, business-friendly stance, alienating some of its traditional base. So for him to stand up in Parliament and say, “We’re determined to strengthen workers’ rights” in the context of a high-profile alleged union-busting case? That’s a signal. Is it a signal of genuine intent to crack down, or just convenient rhetoric to placate angry union supporters? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. But the fact he felt compelled to say it at all shows the pressure this Rockstar story is generating.
What happens next?
So what does “ministers will look into it” actually mean? It probably won’t mean Keir Starmer personally reviewing Slack logs from Rockstar North. But it applies formal political pressure. It puts Rockstar on notice that a government department is now officially aware and potentially scrutinizing their actions. That can influence the ongoing legal process. The IWGB has already filed unfair dismissal claims, and this political noise strengthens their hand. Basically, Rockstar can’t just quietly settle and make this go away anymore. The story has legs, and as protests continue and more details circulate online, the reputational damage is mounting.
A warning shot
Look, I’m skeptical about how far this government will go. Corporate influence is powerful. But you have to see this as a warning shot across the bow of the entire tech and games industry in the UK. For years, the narrative has been about keeping “world-leading” game studios happy, often at the expense of talking about their labor practices. This episode flips that script. It says that even the most lucrative, headline-grabbing developer isn’t above scrutiny. If the government follows through with actual strengthened worker protections, it could change the game. And if they don’t? Well, then it was all just political theater after all. But for now, Rockstar is officially in a political fight it really didn’t want.
