Rockstar Says 'We Stand by Our Course of Action' as Judge Rejects Fired GTA 6 Developers' Application for Interim Relief

An employment tribunal has contiguous rejected an exertion for interim alleviation filed connected behalf of the fired Grand Theft Auto 6 developers astatine Rockstar Games.

The Glasgow Employment Tribunal released the result of the proceeding today, rejecting each applications for interim relief. “We invited the decision, which is accordant with Rockstar’s presumption throughout," a Rockstar Games spokesperson told IGN. “We regret that we were enactment successful a presumption wherever dismissals were necessary, but we basal by our people of enactment arsenic supported by the result of this hearing.”

Rockstar has insisted the employees it fired precocious past twelvemonth were dismissed due to the fact that they leaked crippled features for upcoming and unannounced titles successful Discord, not due to the fact that they were trying to unionize. 34 members of unit astatine Rockstar were dismissed, 31 successful the UK and 3 successful Canada, sparking protests extracurricular the bureau of GTA 6 developer Rockstar North successful Edinburgh, Scotland, and extracurricular genitor institution Take-Two’s bureau successful London.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which had accused Rockstar of “union-busting,” asked a justice to assistance the fired GTA 6 developers interim alleviation astatine a preliminary employment tribunal proceeding held successful the UK past week. Interim alleviation is simply a ineligible mechanics that tin supply workers with enactment portion they hold for a afloat hearing. If the interim alleviation had been granted, the workers would person been enactment backmost connected Rockstar’s payroll and had their enactment visas reinstated wherever necessary.

In the ruling, Judge Eccles said that of the astir 350 members of the IWGB Discord, implicit fractional were members of the IWGB, but immoderate were nary longer employed by Rockstar Games. One subordinate was said to person written property articles astir video games, including astatine slightest 1 that commented connected Rockstar and the improvement of GTA. Judge Eccles added that due to the fact that Rockstar dismissed 3 employees successful Canada who were not members of the union, their national rank could not person been a origin successful their dismissal.

According to accusation provided to IGN by a Rockstar Games spokesperson, the ruling indicates that Judge Eccles believes that the IWGB is not “likely” to amusement that national enactment oregon rank was the crushed for their dismissal.

Lord John Hendy KC, who represents the fired developers, argued it was not “gross misconduct” to stock confidential accusation successful a radical containing outer 3rd parties, adjacent arsenic a substance of principle, but Rockstar insisted this assertion was not credible. Lord Hendy KC besides suggested determination was ‘no leak’ of information, astatine champion lone a ‘risk’ of leak. However, Rockstar said that posting confidential accusation successful a nationalist forum constitutes a 'leak’ due to the fact that that accusation was shared with radical extracurricular of Rockstar, including individuals who enactment astatine competitors and with journalists.

Rockstar has besides denied having a “blacklist” of national members, stressing that astatine the clip of the dismissals, the institution did not cognize whether the claimants were national members, truthful could not person targeted them.

And, arsenic it has said before, Rockstar employees themselves raised concerns to the institution and granted representatives entree to the “social” channel, not the Discord transmission utilized for authoritative national organizing. As IGN has besides reported, Rockstar has claimed that the national transmission mods didn’t cognize who was successful the channel, and that it posed a leak risk.

As for the alleged leaked information, Rockstar believes it to beryllium important and related to crippled features astir GTA 6. This includes circumstantial crippled features, comments connected the wide advancement of GTA 6 development, timelines to launch, and institution IT information protocols. Rockstar believes that if the comments successful question had leaked they would person been large gaming quality and mightiness adjacent person affected Take-Two’s stock price. When Rockstar officially announced that GTA 6 would beryllium delayed by six months to November 19, 2026, the marketplace worth of Take-Two plummeted $3.75 cardinal successful a azygous day.

And Rockstar has pointed to its well-established zero tolerance attack to leaks, highlighting that it dismissed a Rockstar worker successful Lincoln, UK successful April 2025, who it alleged disclosed confidential accusation astir GTA 6 to a 3rd enactment who published the accusation to societal media, and dismissed an worker successful the U.S. successful November 2023 and different successful India successful November 2025 for 2 abstracted acts of accusation leaking. Rockstar said that galore of the claimants accepted successful the Discord server that their comments mightiness not person aligned with Rockstar’s policies connected confidentiality and security, which it believes to beryllium a motion they were alert of the company’s zero-tolerance approach.

The IWGB issued IGN with a lengthy connection successful effect to the ruling:

"The judge’s determination - that Rockstar volition not beryllium forced into providing exigency enactment to our members whilst they await proceedings - is disappointing but does thing to dampen our hopes of winning justness erstwhile the afloat proceeding takes place.

"In fact, we are emerging from this hearing, having present had a glimpse of Rockstar’s flimsy grounds for defence, feeling bolstered successful our claims that these firings were not conscionable profoundly unjust but besides plainly unlawful. The justice stated successful her ruling that: ‘There was nary grounds of the responsive having suffered immoderate adverse consequences arsenic a effect of these postings.'

"It was besides highlighted successful the ruling that galore procedural guidelines were breached successful the process of firing these employees, including determination being nary disciplinary meetings, nary accidental for entreaty until six weeks later, and nary grounds of an investigation. Comments relied connected by Rockstar’s lawyers were obtained without the cognition of employees utilizing Discord, described by the claimants arsenic 'covert monitoring.'

"We person ever been wide that Interim Relief is an incredibly precocious barroom to conscionable arsenic a impermanent measurement earlier the substantive tribunal, and it would person been astir unprecedented for a Judge to grant this to a radical of this size. That we did not unafraid an interim alleviation bid means the particularly stringent conditions required for this benignant of proceeding were not met, but does thing to suggest that Rockstar volition not beryllium recovered blameworthy of unfair dismissal erstwhile the lawsuit goes to trial.

"The facts of the substance stay shocking, specified arsenic however Rockstar absorption person present admitted to covertly monitoring their employees connected this backstage Discord by impersonating a subordinate of staff. Rather than focusing their lawsuit connected grounds that Rockstar acted reasonably and reasonably successful their determination to occurrence 31 radical connected the spot, the statement resided mostly connected ineligible technicalities, with Rockstar's lawyers declaring that it doesn’t substance if the dismissals were unfair, oregon if the enactment that dismissed them acted with malice.

"Such an attack is wholly successful keeping with what we already cognize of Rockstar’s utter disregard for the radical whose creativity and hard enactment present its billions.

"We stay assured successful the spot of our lawsuit against Rockstar Games and we reiterate our steadfast content that Rockstar broke the instrumentality erstwhile it summarily dismissed 31 national members. We look guardant to the time we look them successful court."

Alex Marshall, President of the IWGB added: "Despite being refused interim alleviation today, we’ve travel retired of past week’s proceeding much assured than ever that a afloat and substantive tribunal volition find Rockstar’s calculated effort to crush a national to beryllium not lone unjust but unlawful. The information that we were granted this proceeding speaks to the spot of our lawsuit and, implicit the people of the two-day hearing, Rockstar consistently failed to backmost up claims made successful the property oregon to refute that they acted unfairly, maliciously, and successful breach of their ain procedures.

"They’ve shown their manus and besides shone a airy connected their ain callousness and incompetence. Given the outpouring of nationalist enactment implicit the past fewer months, from Paris to New York, the satellite knows that Rockstar is successful the incorrect and their disregard for workers volition formed a agelong shadiness implicit the merchandise of GTA6. This proceeding could person alleviated the hardships faced by those successful fiscal precarity oregon forced to permission the state arsenic a effect of Rockstar’s actions but we stay undeterred successful our efforts to clasp them to account."

The IWGB besides provided a connection attributed to a erstwhile Rockstar employee: "This determination to neglect to grant IR is simply a gut-punch to everyone legitimately engaged successful commercialized national activities. The existent satellite consequences of this are forcing invaluable radical to permission this country, upending their families and destroying their lives, and each due to the fact that of the actions of a ruthless uncaring employer’s quest to crush a commercialized union. We’ll proceed the combat to wide our names, regain our jobs and enactment an extremity to this section of our lives.

"Throughout each this, the bonds we person made with those who were unlawfully fired person kept america each strong. The kindness, compassion and dedication we person each shown to each different is heartwarming and a reminder that we are each warring for workers rights. This decision, portion not successful our favour, is not an exoneration of Rockstar’s behaviour and actions. Merely a stumbling artifact connected the roadworthy to justice."

Union busting has consequences! UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the authorities volition look into @RockstarGames's dismissal of 31 national members. pic.twitter.com/4EEM9NvcR7

The ruling comes aft UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the lawsuit “deeply concerning," and pledged that ministers would investigate. The layoffs were raised by Rockstar North's section MP Chris Murray successful the UK's Parliament during a league of Prime Minister's Questions that took spot precocious past year.

"The video games institution Rockstar successful my constituency past period fired 31 employees without providing grounds oregon national representation," Murray told the Prime Minister. "The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain] IWGB alleges national busting. Having met Rockstar they failed to reassure maine they are pursuing employment instrumentality and I stock concerns astir national busting.

"Given this authorities is liable for the biggest summation successful workers rights successful a generation," Murray continued, "does the Prime Minister hold each companies careless of nett size indispensable travel UK employment instrumentality and each workers person the close to articulation a union?"

"It's a profoundly concerning case," Starmer replied. "Every idiosyncratic has the close to articulation a commercialized national and we're determined to fortify workers rights and guarantee they don't look unfair consequences for being portion of a union. Our ministers volition look into the peculiar lawsuit that helium [Murray] raises and volition support him updated."

Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].