GTA 6: More Than 30 Former Rockstar Employees Ask You NOT to Boycott It

More than 30 former Rockstar employees who were laid off are asking fans NOT to boycott GTA 6: they're selling a T-shirt for 25 pounds to pay for their lawsuit.

More than 30 former Rockstar Games employees who were laid off are asking GTA 6 fans NOT to boycott the game on their behalf. Instead, they’re selling a solidarity T-shirt for 25 pounds to help pay for the lawsuit against the company, which is set to begin just one month before the game’s release.

The labor dispute that has been simmering for months at Rockstar is back in the headlines just as GTA 6 enters its final stretch. On October 30, 2025, the company fired more than 30 employees from its UK headquarters without warning—all of whom were members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and in the midst of unionizing the studio.

What Rockstar Says and What the Union Says

Rockstar maintains that the firings were due to “serious misconduct”: the leak of confidential company information, allegedly linked to the leaks of GTA 6 content that were circulating around that time. The union flatly denies this and describes it as one of the most aggressive union-busting campaigns the video game industry has ever seen, with additional accusations of blacklisting against those who were fired. In June 2026, a British labor court had already rejected Rockstar’s request to dismiss those blacklisting allegations before the trial began.

The £25 T-shirt Instead of a Boycott

In a video posted by the IWGB, several of the laid-off employees ask for exactly the opposite of what one might expect.

“Don’t boycott GTA 6. Seek justice for the people who helped make it.”

And they add: “We spent years pouring our work, our skill, and our creativity into making GTA. And we want people to experience the universe we helped build. But that doesn’t mean we want you to let Rockstar off the hook.”

The alternative they propose is to buy the “Rockstar 34” solidarity T-shirt, priced at 25 pounds, with the proceeds going toward funding the legal battle of the 34 former employees involved (31 in the UK and 3 in Canada). It’s available for pre-order through August 30, and shipping begins in mid-September.

A Trial Set for Just One Month Before the Release of GTA 6

The timing is what makes this whole thing so intriguing. The final trial is scheduled for September 10 through October 15, 2026, right when the promotion for GTA 6 will be at its peak. The game launches on PS5 and Xbox on November 19, just over a month after the verdict is handed down.

There is no public evidence that the dispute will affect the game’s development or launch: the view that the timing is detrimental to Rockstar comes from the community and the union itself, not an official company position on its schedule. What does exist is a clash of unresolved accounts that a British court will have to settle weeks before millions of players power on their consoles. If you want to follow the rest of the news leading up to the release, we have more news on everything surrounding GTA 6.

Quick Questions

How many former Rockstar employees are asking people not to boycott GTA 6?

More than 30. The exact number involved in the solidarity campaign is 34 people who were fired: 31 in the UK and 3 in Canada.

Why were they fired?

Rockstar says it was for leaking confidential company information; the IWGB union maintains it was retaliation for attempting to unionize, and is taking the case to court as a blacklisting case.

Will the lawsuit affect the release of GTA 6?

There are no signs of a delay. The trial ends on October 15, 2026, and GTA 6 is set to be released on November 19: they coincide on the calendar, but they are separate processes.