Rockstar Wins Initial Ruling Against Fired GTA 6 Devs: ‘We Regret That We Were Put In A Position Where Dismissals Were Necessary’

Over 30 fired Rockstar Games employees have lost a request for interim relief following an ongoing fight with the Grand Theft Auto 6 maker. A UK employment tribunal ruling read that it “was unable to conclude that it appears likely that the tribunal will find that the principal reason for the claimants’ dismissal was their membership of the IWGB,” meaning the legal battle will continue with no immediate back pay for the fired developers. The union representing them says it’s undeterred while a spokesperson for Rockstar said the company regrets being put in this situation and maintains the employees were fired for leaking confidential information.

The dispute revolves around a Discord set up by the IWGB to help organize union video game developers. Rockstar says it fired 31 UK developers last year for disclosing company secrets in the channel, including information related to development schedules and game features. IWGB has denied that any sensitive info was leaked and claims the firings infringed on employees’ labor rights and are tantamount to union-busting.

According to employment Judge Frances Eccles’ initial ruling, the Discord channel included around 350 members, including former Rockstar employees, at least one of whom had previously published articles about the company online. A spokesperson for Rockstar pointed out that there were current employees who shared support for unionizing in the Discord and who weren’t fired, stressing that the terminations were specifically for mishandling of company information.

“The Glasgow Employment Tribunal has rejected the union’s application for interim relief. We welcome the decision, which is consistent with Rockstar’s position throughout,” a spokesperson for Rockstar told Kotaku in an emailed statement. “We regret that we were put in a position where dismissals were necessary, but we stand by our course of action as supported by the outcome of this hearing.”

Rockstar accused of spying on fired devs

But the IWGB says the ruling highlights that Rockstar failed to follow procedural guidelines when firing the employees, with no disciplinary meetings, investigations, or chances to appeal the company’s findings internally. It also accused Rockstar of “covertly monitoring” employees on the Discord by “impersonating” a union staff member. And the organization points to a part of the judge’s ruling that reads “There was no evidence of the respondent having suffered any adverse consequences as a result of these postings” as evidence that Rockstar overreacted.

“Despite being refused interim relief today, we’ve come out of last week’s hearing more confident than ever that a full and substantive tribunal will find Rockstar’s calculated attempt to crush a union to be not only unjust but unlawful,” IWGB president Alex Marshall said in a statement emailed to Kotaku. “The fact that we were granted this hearing speaks to the strength of our case and, over the course of the two-day hearing, Rockstar consistently failed to back up claims made in the press or to refute that they acted unfairly, maliciously, and in breach of their own procedures.”

The case will now continue to be argued before the tribunal for a full finding which could have important implications for whether the studio behind one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world becomes unionized. Whatever the outcome, it seems likely to be decided before Grand Theft Auto 6 ships later this year in November.