Rockstar in court over 31 fired developers: what the Glasgow tribunal is about

Rockstar Games is defending itself at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal over the firing of developers in October 2025. The final hearing began on September 10, 2026 and is scheduled to run until October 16, about a month before GTA 6 comes out.

What the case is about

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) represents the fired workers in the case Garland & Others v Rockstar. The union says 31 workers lost their jobs for organizing and claims union detriment, blacklisting and unfair dismissal. According to the IWGB, Rockstar compiled lists of union members’ names and fired people without a disciplinary process or a right to appeal.

Rockstar says the firings were for gross misconduct: the workers shared confidential company information in a Discord server, and union membership had nothing to do with it. Rockstar says the dismissals affected staff in the UK and Canada.

What came out in the hearings

According to reports from the hearings, Rockstar argues that details about unannounced GTA 6 features posted in the server would have been huge news that could move Take-Two’s share price. Former employee Dayne Oram, who administered the Discord channel, testified that the discussion was about working conditions, that the server was private, and that the internal emails shared there had already gone to all staff.

Rockstar also described its security in court: privacy film on office windows after drones tried to photograph the interiors, Discord blocked on work computers, and a recent blackmail attempt by a hacking group.

Before the final hearing, a judge refused Rockstar’s request to strike out the blacklisting claims, so they are being heard in full.

On October 9 the lawyer for the fired developers questioned the co-studio manager and HR director of Rockstar Lincoln, Kotaku reports. According to claims filed in September, an employee referred to in the case as AB passed him screenshots of the union Discord for more than two years. The lawyer asked why, if the posts were such a serious threat, Rockstar waited until October 2025 to act.

The HR director said that by October the company was on the cusp of a major announcement and public interest was at its peak, so any post about working hours or crunch could have hurt Rockstar; the server was also growing fast, with many members the company couldn’t identify. The firings came at the end of October 2025, days before Rockstar moved GTA 6 from May to November 2026. The fired developers say management knew they were 12 members short of the 10% of staff needed for union recognition; the HR director said he had no interest in their union status. AB isn’t among the witnesses. According to Bloomberg, the decision is expected toward the end of October (the report).

When the decision comes

The hearings are scheduled to end on October 16. The tribunal hasn’t said when it will announce its decision. GTA 6 is still set for November 19, 2026.

In Bloomberg’s feature on the making of GTA 6, published on October 14, head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe said Rockstar would accept a union if staff want one (what else the feature reports).