Former Rockstar Games workers allege they were dismissed for union activity; Rockstar says the dismissals followed confidentiality breaches. Those competing accounts were before Glasgow Employment Tribunal in September 2026, but the material available here does not establish a tribunal finding. Nor does it show that the dismissals caused or contributed to Grand Theft Auto VI’s reported release delay.
Why were GTA 6 developers fired?
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) says the dismissals were connected to workers’ union involvement. It also alleges that Rockstar blacklisted workers and failed to provide a proper disciplinary process or a right of appeal. The union says the workers are seeking reinstatement or compensation and a finding that their dismissals were unfair. These are the union’s claims and requested remedies, not established legal outcomes.
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Rockstar’s stated explanation is that employees were dismissed over messages in a private union Discord channel that the company says breached confidentiality agreements. On 31 October 2025, Take-Two communications head Alan Lewis told ITV News: “Rockstar Games terminated a small number of individuals for gross misconduct, and for no other reason.” That statement sets out the company’s position; it does not resolve the workers’ claims.
| Account | Who made it and its status | What it says | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dismissals were connected to union activity | IWGB allegation in its 7 September 2026 hearing notice; contested in the proceedings | The union alleges union-related dismissals, blacklisting and deficient procedures. | It is not a tribunal finding that Rockstar dismissed workers for union activity. |
| Dismissals followed confidentiality breaches | Rockstar’s stated explanation, reported by the IWGB and ITV News | The company says messages in a private union Discord channel breached confidentiality agreements; Take-Two described the terminations as for gross misconduct. | It is not a tribunal finding that the workers committed gross misconduct or that confidentiality breaches were the actual reason for dismissal. |
How many workers were dismissed?
The figures refer to different scopes, so they should not be treated as conflicting counts of the same group.
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| Figure | Scope and attribution |
|---|---|
| 31 workers | The IWGB’s 7 September 2026 notice refers to the workers in the Glasgow case. |
| 34 employees, including 31 union members and three non-members | Game Developer reported this UK-and-Canada total on 11 September 2026, based on the parties’ filings. |
| More than 30 UK employees | ITV News reported the IWGB’s claim on 31 October 2025, when the dismissals were announced. |
Rockstar dismissed workers in the UK and Canada on 30 October 2025. The wider reported total covers both countries; the 31-worker figure is the group in the Glasgow proceedings.
What happened at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal?
The IWGB said the hearing was scheduled to run from 10 September through 16 October 2026. Sky News reported testimony on 11 September, and Game Developer reported the parties’ opening submissions on the same date. As of the material available here, no final ruling or settlement is established. The hearing schedule is not itself a decision, and the accounts given in testimony and filings remain distinct from findings by the tribunal.
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The union also said on 7 September that negotiations over formal union recognition were ongoing. The available material does not establish whether the parties later reached an agreement.
What did the return-to-office petition have to do with the allegations?
Sky News reported that tribunal testimony discussed a return-to-office petition signed by around 150 employees in spring 2023. The same report said questioning noted that 141 of 154 signatories were not dismissed. Former Rockstar employee Dayne Oram testified that he believed the petition was “the starting point and used to watch people for activities that were considered distasteful.” That is his stated belief as reported by Sky News, not an adjudicated conclusion that Rockstar created or used a watch list.
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Did the union dispute cause the GTA 6 delay?
The material available here does not establish that it did. It reports that the dismissed workers had worked on Grand Theft Auto VI and that the game’s then-current reported release date was 19 November 2026. Those facts do not demonstrate that the dismissals caused or contributed to a delay. A connection between the employees and the game is not evidence of a causal link between the labor dispute and the release schedule.
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What is known—and what remains unresolved
- Known from attributed reporting: Rockstar dismissed workers on 30 October 2025; the IWGB and Rockstar offered competing explanations; and the Glasgow proceedings concerned 31 workers, while a separate report described 34 dismissals across the UK and Canada.
- Reported as testimony, not a finding: the petition and Oram’s belief about monitoring were discussed at the tribunal.
- Not established in the material available here: whether the tribunal found the dismissals unlawful, whether the parties settled or agreed formal union recognition, and whether the dispute affected GTA VI’s release date.
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