Rockstar Games and a group of former Rockstar North employees have presented sharply conflicting opening statements at a UK employment tribunal in Glasgow, kicking off what is expected to be a five-week hearing running until at least mid-October. The case centers on Rockstar's October 2025 dismissal of a group of workers—reported as 34 by some outlets and 31 by others—on grounds of "gross misconduct" tied to activity on a private Discord server run by union organizers affiliated with the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
According to court filings, Rockstar had a source—described in filings as a "mole" or "whistleblower"—feeding information from inside the Discord server to Rockstar HR director Charlie Kinloch for what the dismissed workers say was at least 21 months, beginning around February 2024, and what Rockstar's own filing describes as "over two and a half years." The former employees allege at least 26 meetings or communications took place between Kinloch and the informant, with the source allegedly supplying screenshots, recordings, and membership numbers, and warning Rockstar on October 7, 2025 that the union was 12 members away from the 10% threshold needed for legal recognition in the UK. The union reportedly hit that threshold on October 18, and dismissals began at the end of the month. Rockstar's filing similarly acknowledges whistleblowers but says the company received only limited "snippets" of information before gaining fuller access to the server between October 13 and 16, when a Discord member is said to have supplied login credentials.
The two sides fundamentally disagree on Rockstar's motives and on how the dismissals came about. The fired workers argue the timing shows Rockstar acted specifically to stop the union from reaching the threshold required for official recognition, calling the abrupt firings a deliberate effort to "disable" a growing organizing effort; they cite a reported drop in Discord membership from around 390 to 261 within days of the firings, along with several IWGB members canceling memberships. Rockstar rejects this characterization, arguing that if it had truly feared union recognition it would have acted earlier rather than waiting until the threshold had already been reached, calling the union's version of events "literally incredible." Rockstar maintains the sole reason for the dismissals was misconduct uncovered on the Discord that destroyed trust in the affected employees.
Much of the dispute turns on what exactly was posted in the server, which by some accounts had around 340 to 390 members. Rockstar alleges that discussions included sensitive internal matters, including references to an "online 32-player format" tied to a confidential project, which outlets have linked to plans for GTA 6's online multiplayer component—marking what appears to be the first public acknowledgment, however indirect, of such a feature. Rockstar also claims discussions touched on GTA 6 delays, overtime, and crunch, and that some in the wider server (which the company says numbered nearly 350 people) were not current employees, including some who had left the company "in poor standing," as well as a journalist. The dismissed workers dispute the severity of these claims, saying no posts disclosed release dates or trailer information, and that the substance of most posts concerned workplace policy matters relevant to union organizing. Both sides also traded accusations over use of profanity and disparaging language on the server.
Rockstar's filing emphasizes what it describes as an extensive security apparatus surrounding GTA 6's development, comparing its confidentiality practices to those of a bank or companies protecting valuable trade secrets. The company says it has faced persistent attempts to breach its security, including a 2022 phishing attack it says led to a leak of unfinished development footage, drone surveillance of its offices that prompted the installation of privacy film on windows, and a recent hacking group's attempt to blackmail the company—an apparent reference to the Cyberleeks GTA 6 leaks—which Rockstar says coincided with a $2 billion drop in its parent company Take-Two's share value.
The union disputes Rockstar's characterization of the Discord as insecure, describing it as invite-only and subject to verification through Rockstar's internal Slack system, and noting that no confidential information is known to have leaked into the public domain from the server itself. The tribunal proceedings, accompanied by protests outside the hearing, will continue with cross-examination of evidence in the coming weeks, and the outcome is expected to have significant implications for video game industry unionization efforts in the UK.