A high-stakes legal battle over unionization efforts at Rockstar Games intensified in Glasgow, Scotland, as an employment tribunal heard testimony regarding workplace surveillance and the sudden dismissal of dozens of developers working on the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI.
The dispute centers on allegations brought by former staff members represented by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. The claimants argue that Rockstar targeted and unlawfully dismissed them in late October 2025 to stop the labor group from gaining formal recognition across the company. Rockstar, however, maintains that 34 employees in the United Kingdom and Canada were terminated for gross misconduct, including disparagement and the alleged disclosure of confidential company secrets on a Discord chat server.
HR Manager Defends Timing of Dismissals
Charlie Kinloch, the human resources director and co-studio operations director at Rockstar Lincoln, faced sharp questioning from claimants’ representatives on Friday. The tribunal examined records showing an anonymous employee, referred to in court documents as “AB,” spent roughly two years sending Kinloch screenshots of discussions happening inside the developer Discord server.
Lawyers representing the dismissed workers questioned why management waited until late October 2025 to fire staff if the remarks in question had been known to HR months or years earlier, Kotaku reported. Kinloch testified that the company acted because the server’s user count was ballooning rapidly with unidentified individuals just as Rockstar stood on the brink of an important business announcement.
“I viewed those messages with the scrutiny Rockstar Games was under in the run up to GTA6, which was unprecedented,” Kinloch said, according to Eurogamer. He argued that public interest had hit a peak and that negative comments about working hours or management practices posed severe commercial and financial risks if leaked to the press.
Days after the dismissals in October 2025, Rockstar publicly delayed the release of Grand Theft Auto VI from May 2026 to November 2026. Kinloch rejected claims that he monitored staff to stop labor organizing, stating he had “little interest” in worker union status and was instead guarding against disparagement and leaks, Eurogamer reported.
Former Workers Contest Misconduct Claims
Claimants firmly deny that the Discord channel breached confidentiality rules or leaked sensitive game details. Former quality assurance worker Jack Hoxby told the Press Association that the forum was created to help remote staff organize digitally, describing the dismissals as union busting.
During Friday’s proceedings, former employee Dayne Oram, who helped set up the server for around 300 employees, told the tribunal that while chats venting frustration about managers sometimes became heated, admins sought to balance moderation without being overly punitive, the Thurrock Gazette reported. Oram also suggested that an earlier 2023 petition against return-to-office mandates had served as a starting point for management to assemble a “watch list” of employees.
Thomas Cordrey, the attorney representing Rockstar, challenged that assertion, pointing out that 141 out of 154 workers who signed the petition retained their jobs, the Thurrock Gazette reported. Rockstar has insisted that the terminations resulted from an “irretrievable breakdown in trust and confidence” and not union affiliation.
What Comes Next
The hearings before Judge Lucy Wiseman at the Glasgow Tribunals Centre are scheduled to resume next week, when additional Rockstar managers and terminated developers are expected to provide testimony. While the tribunal weighs whether the dismissals were legally justified, Grand Theft Auto VI remains scheduled for global commercial release on Nov. 19.
