MORE than 200 trade unionists and community activists picketed Rockstar Games in Edinburgh today in solidarity with 30 workers sacked for joining a union.

The company, famed for its Grand Theft Auto franchise, the latest edition of which netted more than $1billion (£770 million) in pre-sale orders alone, last week fired all 30 workers who had been part of an Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Discord channel.

Workers, unable to be named for fear of reprisals, but bolstered by messages of international solidarity from the Screen Actors’ Guild of America, as well as unions closer to home such as PCS and the CWU’s United Tech and Allied Workers branch, demanded to be reinstated, branding the company’s behaviour “illegal.”

IWGB Game Workers Union chairman Spring McParlin-Jones said: “Next year, Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to make upwards of $10bn. 

“That’s enough to end world hunger for a year. Such a flagrant attack on workers’ rights from such a valuable studio sends a very clear and shocking message to the world, that money matters more than people.”

Rockstar Games was unable to be contacted for comment.