Union Asks Judge to Grant Fired GTA 6 Devs Interim Relief at Preliminary Tribunal Hearing, Rockstar Denies Claims

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has asked a justice to assistance the fired GTA 6 developers interim alleviation astatine a preliminary employment tribunal proceeding held successful the UK this week. Rockstar Games, which besides attended the hearing, has issued a effect to the claims, denying a fig of points made by the union.

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 IWGB, which is representing the affected unit successful the UK, has refuted Rockstar’s claim, saying that the workers "only communicated successful backstage and legally-protected commercialized national channels."

On Monday, January 5, a preliminary proceeding astatine the Glasgow Tribunals Centre successful Scotland saw the IWGB correspond the fired Rockstar workers and marque a lawsuit for wherefore they should beryllium granted interim relief.

Interim alleviation is simply a ineligible mechanics that tin supply workers with enactment portion they hold for a afloat hearing. This week’s tribunal volition determine whether oregon not the workers volition person the interim alleviation portion awaiting a day for a afloat trial. If the interim alleviation is granted, the workers volition beryllium enactment backmost connected Rockstar’s payroll and person their enactment visas reinstated wherever necessary.

The IWGB told IGN contiguous that it is hopeful the justice volition spot it their way, but insisted that if the interim alleviation is not granted, that doesn’t mean Rockstar volition not beryllium recovered blameworthy of breaking the instrumentality if and erstwhile the lawsuit goes to trial.

“We anticipation this week’s tribunal volition assistance urgently needed alleviation to the workers whose lives were turned upside down by Rockstar’s brutal union-busting, leaving them and their families without incomes, without unafraid futures, and successful immoderate cases without adjacent the close to stay successful the state they person made their home,” the IWGB said successful a connection issued to IGN.

“However, nary substance the result of this interim hearing, we stay assured successful the spot of the lawsuit we person brought against Rockstar Games. We reiterate our steadfast content that Rockstar broke the instrumentality erstwhile it summarily dismissed 31 of our members, and we look guardant present to the time we look them successful tribunal for a afloat and substantive tribunal hearing.

“Rockstar hoped to rapidly and softly hitch retired a radical of workers who were organising for amended conditions. Instead, their dismissal of 31 national members captured the world’s attraction and ignited an unprecedented uprising of planetary solidarity. This lawsuit is not conscionable astir the suffering of the 31 radical who mislaid their livelihoods successful the blink of an eye. This is astir the arrogance of a institution similar Rockstar reasoning that its size and profitability assistance it an unlimited licence to maltreatment its workers, and to bash truthful with impunity.

“Whether oregon not interim alleviation is granted this week, we volition proceed warring successful the courts and connected the streets until we spot justice, for the fired Rockstar workers and for workers everyplace warring for a fairer future.”

A Rockstar Games spokesperson issued IGN with the pursuing connection connected this week’s hearing. In it, the institution addressed galore of the union’s claims, and claimed the enactment lacks immoderate grounds to warrant exigency interim relief.

“Rockstar categorically denies the assertion being heard successful today’s hearing,” the Rockstar spokesperson said.

“We person consistently made wide that we took indispensable enactment against a radical of individuals crossed the UK and Canada who discussed highly confidential information, including relating to crippled features from upcoming and unannounced titles, successful an insecure and nationalist societal channel. This was a breach of long-standing and well-understood confidentiality policies.

“This transmission contained astatine slightest 25 non-Rockstar employees, including employees of rival crippled developers, a video games manufacture journalist, arsenic good arsenic dozens of anonymous, unidentifiable members.

“Meanwhile, employees who posted union-supportive messages, but who did not breach confidentiality policies, were not dismissed.

“We regret that these dismissals were necessary; however, confidentiality is cardinal to everything Rockstar Games does. Global involvement successful our games is unparalleled. Even the smallest leak of immoderate accusation relating to our products and practices tin origin large commercialized and originative harm — arsenic we person seen successful the past — and harm the acquisition of our loyal players and dedicated team. This was ne'er astir national membership. We person ever taken a zero-tolerance attack to unauthorized releases of accusation — and we ever will.”

Rockstar has indicated to IGN that it believes the IWGB’s assertion of “union-busting” is baseless, and that the national has nary grounds to enactment its statements. 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. It maintains that this societal Discord transmission was not backstage oregon for employees only, and so contained hundreds of users, including employees of rival crippled developers, a video games manufacture journalist, and dozens of anonymous, unidentifiable members. 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.

What astir this 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 advancement of GTA 6 development, and timelines to launch.

Rockstar believes that if the comments successful question were 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.

The proceeding 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."

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

In a connection sent to IGN astatine the time, MP Chris Murray shared item of his attempts to sermon the substance with Rockstar itself, including a associated gathering alongside chap Edinburgh MPs Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur astatine Rockstar North's offices, which began with a standoff implicit the request to motion a non-disclosure statement (NDA).

"The gathering began with america arsenic MPs refused introduction unless an NDA was signed, a petition they yet withdrew aft being made wide this would not beryllium signed," Murray said.

He continued: "The gathering lone entrenched my concerns astir the process Rockstar utilized to disregard truthful galore of their unit members. I was not assured their process paid robust attraction to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this people of enactment was necessary, and alarmingly, I did not permission informed connected precisely what these 31 radical had done to warrant their contiguous dismissal."

IGN precocious questioned Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick connected the matter, who answered by defending the company's civilization and saying that Take-Two was "incredibly arrogant of our labour relations."

Photo by Lesley Martin/PA Images 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].