Union claims Rockstar’s justification of dismissals is “littered with falsehoods and disinformation”

The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) reacts to Rockstar's acquittal layoff of more than 30 employees in October.

Last week, the developer announced these workers.”disseminated and discussed confidential information in a public forumin violation of company policy and its legal obligations.”

It said “claims that these terminations were related to union membership or activities are completely false and misleading.”

In response, the IWGB said (via GameSpot) Rockstar's statement is “full of lies and misinformation” and claims that it will “attempt to reverse engineer the rationale for the layoffs.”

“They have again chosen to mischaracterize workers speaking out about their working conditions in a private forum as a ‘information leak,’” the organization said.

“It is difficult to understand this statement as anything other than a desperate attempt to evade the global attention they have been subjected to over the past month.”

It concludes: “From the UK Prime Minister in the House of Commons to outspoken game developers around the world, all eyes are on Rockstar and their lawless attack on the people who make them their billions.”

Last week British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the layoffs “deeply worrying.” and that ministers will investigate the matter.

Scottish Labor MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Chris Murray brought the issue to Starmer's attention during Prime Minister's Questions.

In a separate statement, he detailed his meeting with Rockstar, which he said “only strengthened the position.” [his] concern” about how the situation was resolved.

“The meeting began with deputies refusing to enter until a non-disclosure agreement was signed, and they ultimately withdrew that request after it became clear that it would not be signed,” Murray said.

“This meeting only heightened my concerns about the process Rockstar used to fire so many of its employees.”

He continued: “I was not convinced that their process paid close attention to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this course of action was necessary and, worryingly, I did not report what exactly these 31 people had done to justify their immediate dismissal.”