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Rockstar Games Financials Revealed: 'Grand Theft Tax' Scandal Sparks Urgent Demands
Rockstar Games has come under fire from politicians and unions over its use of UK Video Games Tax Relief, with new financial reports revealing the company claimed over £70m in tax relief while generating £508m in turnover and £87m in profits in 2024.
Rockstar Games, the studio behind the highly anticipated GTA 6, has found itself at the centre of another controversy — this time related to its financial practices in the United Kingdom. New reports from The Scotsman, shared by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), have revealed alarming details about the company's tax relief claims.
According to Rockstar Games' UK company accounts for 2024, the studio claimed in excess of £70m from the UK's Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR), while recording profits of more than £87m and a turnover of £508m. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Rockstar's UK operations have crossed the half-a-billion-pound turnover threshold, with total profits over the past decade exceeding £600m.
The UK government introduced VGTR in April 2014 to encourage game production within the region. Rockstar has repeatedly used this scheme to offset the extraordinary development costs of games like GTA 5 and the upcoming GTA 6. However, critics argue that a company generating hundreds of millions in profits hardly needs such support.
Previously, Tax Watch UK reported that between 2014 and 2019, internal royalties paid to Take-Two Interactive totalled $2.5bn, with GTA V generating $660m in royalties in 2017 alone. These figures have intensified calls for greater scrutiny of Rockstar's tax arrangements.
In December, Edinburgh North and Leith MP Tracy Gilbert raised concerns about Rockstar's tax usage and alleged union-busting practices in UK Parliament. Rockstar has defended its position, stating it has 'invested enormously in the UK' and created 'more than a thousand jobs in the creative sector'.
The IWGB and opposition politicians are now calling for an urgent review of Rockstar's tax arrangements, arguing that public money should not subsidise a company facing allegations of underpaying its workforce. Rockstar is already under investigation for illegally underpaying staff at its GTA 6 studio, compounding pressure ahead of the November 2026 launch.