rockstar hr manager says he didn't care about union evidence before the layoffs

The Rockstar tribunal keeps getting messier. Eurogamer has a piece up about the HR manager in the Rockstar vs Garland & Others case. Apparently he's claiming he had "little interest" in the union stuff an anonymous employee sent him. That was before they laid off a bunch of union Discord members. Sure, buddy.

I know this isn't directly about GTA 6 gameplay or anything, but it's hard to separate the company from the game at this point. We're all hyped for November, but every few weeks there's another story about how Rockstar treats the people actually making the thing. This HR guy basically admitting he ignored evidence of unionization right before a round of layoffs that hit union members? That's not a good look no matter how you spin it.

I remember the crunch reports during RDR2's development. Rockstar always brushes it off, says they've changed, but then something like this pops up. The tribunal is still ongoing so maybe more details come out, but right now it sounds like the classic playbook. Ignore the union talk, then quietly remove the people who were organizing. If that's what happened, it's gross.

What bugs me is that the same company making this massive, detailed world with all these systems we've been dissecting for months is also the one fighting its own staff in court. The devs are the ones who built Leonida. They deserve better than this. I'll still buy GTA 6 day one because I'm a hypocrite and the game looks incredible, but I'm not going to pretend the labor stuff doesn't leave a bad taste. Rockstar needs to sort this out before it becomes the main story instead of the game itself.

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Source: Eurogamer · Curated content.