The tribunal over the 34 dismissals of October 2025 opens in Glasgow. Over 100 pages of submissions, and one detail Rockstar concedes in writing.
In October 2025, Rockstar Games dismissed 34 employees, most of them UK-based, for "gross misconduct". The company's charge: that they had risked leaking confidential information by posting on a Discord server set up by union organisers.
Those dismissed took Rockstar to court with the opposite claim: that they were removed to stop the union reaching the membership needed for official recognition under UK law.
Final hearings began in Glasgow this week, and both sides filed opening submissions: over 100 pages of claims and counterclaims, with thousands of pages of evidence to be discussed in the coming weeks.
The detail Rockstar concedes in writing
One point has drawn attention above the rest: Rockstar had an informant inside the Discord server — described as a whistleblower — passing it information on who was using it, and had one for over two and a half years.
It matters because it answers an open question: how management knew what was said on a server it says it had no direct access to.
Timeline
- 2022
The Discord is created
Rockstar employees affiliated with the IWGB Game Workers union set up what became the Rockstar Game Workers Union server. Per the dismissed workers' lawyers, until then there was "no official workplace channel through which concerns could be discussed independently of management".
- OCT 2025
The dismissals
Rockstar fires 34 people for gross misconduct. The server had around 340 members by then.
- SEP 2026
Final hearing in Glasgow
Both sides file submissions. Take-Two emails them to the press.
What each side says
| Their case | |
|---|---|
| Rockstar | The dismissals followed a genuine leak of confidential information about an unannounced project. Studio director Jennifer Kolbe states that seeing team members share details of a confidential project was "extraordinarily alarming". |
| The dismissed staff | The real motive was to halt unionisation before the union hit the legal recognition threshold. They argue the Discord was the only space to talk independently of management. |
Why this is followed outside the industry
UK union recognition depends on membership thresholds. If a tribunal concluded a company can alter that arithmetic by dismissing members, the consequences would reach far beyond Rockstar.
And the context matters: the dismissals happened while the studio worked on the most expensive game ever made, in a year of mass layoffs across the industry.
Sources: court filings distributed to press by Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, reported by Rock Paper Shotgun and Eurogamer.
Sources
What this article is based on. Official Rockstar sources first; titles are shown in their original language.
- Rock Paper Shotgun Rockstar had a mole in the union worker Discord server "for over two and a half years", GTA 6 company reveals during legal battle · September 11, 2026
- Eurogamer 'It would have been insanity to take no action' - Fiery opening statements reveal Rockstar's culture of secrecy as tribunal against sacked GTA 6 employees begins · September 11, 2026
