Rockstar faces an employment tribunal over 31 fired GTA VI developers

Rockstar Games is defending itself before an employment tribunal in Glasgow. The case concerns 31 employees in the United Kingdom who worked on GTA VI and were fired last year. Their union says they were dismissed for union activity. Rockstar says they leaked.

The hearing at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal opened on 10 September and is expected to run until 16 October, IGN reports. The 31 former employees are part of a group of 34. The other three lost their jobs in Canada.

Two accounts of the same dismissals

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) says the staff were targeted because of their involvement with the union. According to the union, there was no disciplinary procedure and no chance to appeal. Workers were told in short meetings that they were fired with immediate effect.

Rockstar denies this. The studio says the staff were dismissed for gross misconduct after sharing confidential information about the company and GTA VI on Discord. It also says it did not know at the time who was active in the union. A spokesperson told IGN that Rockstar rejects the claims and will defend itself vigorously.

The Discord channel

According to Rockstar, the messages covered features of GTA VI, the progress of development, the planning towards release and internal IT security protocols. The studio claims the channel had hundreds of members, among them staff of rival companies and a games journalist. The IWGB says it was a private channel.

What the former employees want

They ask to be taken back, or else to be compensated. They also want the tribunal to rule that the dismissals were unlawful. One of them, a member of the IWGB, says the group has waited almost a year to put its account on the record, according to IGN.

Rockstar and the IWGB are also still negotiating formal recognition of the union at the studio. When the tribunal will reach a decision is not known. GTA VI is due on 19 November for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.