With just weeks to go before the highly anticipated release of “GTA 6”, “Rockstar Games” appeared before a Glasgow employment tribunal on 10 September 2026.
The 23 claimants were dismissed in the United Kingdom in October 2025 for, according to the studio, sharing confidential information on Discord. They are now contesting their dismissal.
In a statement published on 7 September 2026, the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) said the employees had in fact been targeted because of their union activity. The organisation also described the way they were dismissed as “illegal”, saying they were let go without disciplinary procedure or any right of appeal.
“Rockstar” rejects the allegations. In a statement sent to AFP, the company said the employees had been dismissed “for gross misconduct following the sharing of confidential information (…) and not because of their presumed union membership or activity”.
Discord at the centre of the dispute
Known for maintaining strict secrecy around its productions, “Rockstar” has several studios in the United Kingdom. Its main British studio is in Edinburgh, where “Rockstar North” is the historical home of the “GTA” franchise.
In documents seen by AFP on 10 September 2026, the studio said nearly 350 people were taking part in the Discord discussion forum. Among them were, according to “Rockstar”, “disgruntled former employees, competitors and a journalist” known for writing critical pieces about the franchise.
Some members are said to have used abusive language about management. Others allegedly discussed the company’s security protocols, the progress of “GTA VI” or certain features of the game, which “Rockstar” described as “one of the company’s best kept secrets”.
As a subsidiary of “Take-Two Interactive”, “Rockstar” says it remains particularly vigilant over leaks surrounding “GTA 6”, which is expected on 19 November 2026. Several unreleased sequences from the game also circulated online this summer. At the end of August, Rockstar itself released around 30 minutes of the game.
The claimants’ lawyers challenge that account. They say the exchanges took place on “a secure and private platform, accessible only by invitation to employees” of the company and “to IWGB representatives”, rather than to the public.
Workers denounce Rockstar’s methods
The claimants say two “moles” passed their messages to human resources. They also argue that the dismissals came days after the IWGB reached 10% membership, the threshold required for recognition within the company. For the union, that timing strengthens the argument that the workers were targeted because of their union involvement.
“You get the feeling that by joining a union, you end up with a target on your back“, Lloyd Knott, 42, an IWGB member and former employee who worked on the visual effects for “GTA 6”, told AFP. He described a “culture of fear“ in the video game industry.
Branimira Yordanova, 31, who was also dismissed, said she feared she might no longer be able to “work in the industry” or “keep [her] home”. “To say the effects have been devastating does not begin to describe them”, added the lighting specialist.
Before the hearing, around 40 people gathered outside the tribunal with banners denouncing a “union-busting” drive. Several current “Rockstar” employees were also present.
Three other employees were dismissed in Canada in connection with the same case, but are not part of the proceedings in Glasgow.