According to Tech Digest, Rockstar Games faces union busting allegations after firing 31 workers from its UK studios on October 30. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain organized protests outside Rockstar’s Edinburgh and London offices, calling it “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry.” Separately, Meta received a cease-and-desist letter from the Motion Picture Association demanding it “immediately and permanently” stop using the PG-13 cinema rating for Instagram content moderation. The MPA accused Meta of being “highly misleading” about its use of the rating system that Meta announced in October for teen accounts.
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The Rockstar union clash
This Rockstar situation looks messy. Firing 31 people in one day? That’s not your typical restructuring – that’s a statement. The timing right after union organizing efforts makes it look particularly suspicious. And calling it “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in gaming history” is quite the accusation from the IWGB.
Here’s the thing: Rockstar has been under scrutiny for years about its infamous crunch culture. Workers have complained about brutal hours, especially during big releases like GTA VI. So when people start organizing for better conditions, and then suddenly dozens get fired? It doesn’t look great. I wonder if we’re seeing the gaming industry’s unionization moment finally arriving.
Meta’s rating mess
Meanwhile, Meta stepped right into a legal minefield with this PG-13 move. They basically took a well-established film rating system and tried to apply it to social media content. But here’s the problem: movie ratings and social media content are completely different beasts.
The MPA isn’t playing around – they’re protecting their trademark, and they have every right to. PG-13 means something specific in cinema, and Meta using it for Instagram moderation creates confusion. It’s like if I started using the Michelin star system to rate my cooking at home – it just doesn’t translate. Plus, Meta’s content moderation has been questionable enough without adding trademark infringement to the mix.
The bigger picture
Both these stories highlight how tech and gaming companies are struggling with established systems – whether it’s labor relations or content rating frameworks. Rockstar seems to be fighting unionization the old-fashioned way, while Meta tried to borrow credibility from another industry and got called out.
What’s interesting is that these aren’t small companies making these moves. We’re talking about giants with massive legal departments. So either they didn’t see these consequences coming, or they calculated the risk and decided it was worth it. Given Meta’s history with regulatory battles, I’m leaning toward the latter.
Basically, we’re watching two different approaches to industry norms crashing and burning. Rockstar with labor practices that feel straight out of the 1980s, and Meta with content moderation that tries to sound authoritative but lacks the substance. Neither approach seems to be working particularly well.
