Highlights
- Rockstar North reportedly underpaid five employees at the Holyrood Road office.
- U.K. government authorities have directed that Rockstar pay due salary and penalties to affected employees.
- Ongoing controversies add pressure on Rockstar as the company gears up for GTA VI’s November 2026 release.
Rockstar Games UK Limited has been accused of underpaying a segment of its workforce, with UK regulators ordering the company to repay affected employees. According to an HMRC report, the legal entity behind Rockstar North has underpaid five workers, totalling £1,396.73 (~$1.8K USD) at its Holyrood Road office in Edinburgh.
The enforcement action stemmed from an HMRC probe into wage violations, where hundreds of companies were found to have failed to meet minimum wage requirements. As per the data, 389 employers failed to meet the National Minimum Wage for the affected workers on their payroll.
HMRC has issued a penalty of £12.6M (~$16.74M) in total, which the employers need to pay along with the £7.3M (~$9.7M) in unpaid wages. For the Edinburgh Rockstar studio, HMRC identified the average underpayment was $372.65 per worker. While the amounts tied specifically to Rockstar remain relatively low, the case highlights systemic compliance gaps even among major global firms.
U.K.’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, condemned the practice and issued a warning, stating, “I look forward to working with the new Fair Work Agency to ensure its powers are used to crack down on those who think the rules don’t apply to them.” The Fair Work Agency is a newly formed enforcement body intended to consolidate workers’ rights enforcement actions.
Wage Enforcement Puts Spotlight on Rockstar
While the HMRC data covered 389 employers, Rockstar North gets highlighted due to its recent activities related to alleged workforce malpractices. In late 2025, the studio laid off 31 Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI) developers, which was later associated with alleged union busting.
In November 2025, Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) sued the studio, and the U.K. prime minister Sir Keir Starmer intervened, making the incident a representation of labor issues in the U.K.'s gaming industry. Rockstar North is the primary UK studio for Rockstar and is currently working on the upcoming GTA VI.
The renewed scrutiny over underpayment could impact the studio’s reputation or result in workers’ distress, prior to GTA VI’s November launch. The HMRC report did not indicate whether there was a pay cut or deliberate underpayment for affected workers at the Edinburgh studio. The studio has not issued a statement yet.
