Rockstar Games has provided a more detailed explanation for the dismissal of several Grand Theft Auto 6 developers in late October 2025, alleging the staff were fired for leaking confidential company secrets. This further sharpens the ongoing dispute with the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which maintains the firings were a clear case of union-busting.
The purge saw 34 terminations—31 in the UK and three in Toronto. Rockstar initially claimed the developers were dismissed for leaking company secrets via a private Discord server run by the IWGB. The IWGB vehemently rejected this, stating the actions were taken against staff for attempting to unionize.
Allegations of Leaked Game Features
Rockstar has now explicitly rejected the union-busting allegations and clarified the reason for the firings:
"Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations," a company representative told IGN. "Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading."
Rockstar further alleged that the union's Discord server, where the leaks purportedly occurred, included a journalist and a rival developer as members.
IWGB's Counter-Allegations
The IWGB's Communications Officer, Jake Thomas, rejected these latest claims. He stated the union is unaware of any leaked "game features." Regarding the journalist mentioned by Rockstar, Thomas clarified the individual is a union representative and game worker who participated in that capacity, having previously "written a couple of articles for a paper." He added that this same clarification applied to any non-Rockstar employee in the server's Rockstar employee channel.
The IWGB issued a separate statement, calling Rockstar’s latest claims "littered with falsehoods and disinformation" and accusing the company of trying to "reverse-engineer" a justification by giving "multiple, conflicting reasons" for the firings.
Rockstar's Final Response
Rockstar issued a brief response to the union's counter-allegations:
"As we suspected and as evidenced by the response to our statement, they have no idea who was in this Discord," a company representative told IGN, though this claim was not elaborated upon.
The IWGB initiated legal proceedings against Rockstar in November 2025, demanding the reinstatement of the dismissed employees. The union is prepared to pursue claims of unfair dismissal if its demands are not met and is currently fundraising to support its legal challenge.
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