A labour dispute involving Rockstar Games is being examined by an employment tribunal in Glasgow, Scotland, with the hearing focused on allegations of union busting and the dismissal of more than 30 employees.
Rockstar says the workers were dismissed last year for gross misconduct, including the alleged leaking of confidential information about Grand Theft Auto 6. The developers involved argue that the real objective was to stop the UK trade union IWGB from establishing a presence within the company.
One of the most unusual issues under examination is the alleged use of a junior employee as an informant inside a separate Discord server used for union discussions. Charlie Kinloch, Rockstar Lincoln’s co-studio manager and HR director, was questioned about the person identified in proceedings only as “AB”.
Claims on both sides of the dispute were filed last month. The allegations state that AB supplied Kinloch with screenshots of union activity for more than two years. That would have given management access to conversations employees believed were private, some of which were later used in support of the dismissal cases.
Why did Rockstar wait until October 2025?
The dismissed developers say material shown to Kinloch indicated that the group was only 12 members short—around 10 per cent of Rockstar’s workforce—of the threshold required for formal union recognition.
Kinloch rejected the suggestion that he was tracking the group’s progress as a union. He said his concern was the potential for confidential company information to leak, and was questioned about why action was not taken when he became aware of relevant posts in March and June 2025.
Lawyer: If those posts were not serious matters requiring immediate investigation in March and June 2025, why did they become urgent in October?
Kinloch: By October, the business was approaching a major announcement about its next project. In that context, comments about working hours, crunch and the way the company operated appeared significantly more sensitive. Public interest in Rockstar was also at its highest, and he believed a single post reaching the public could damage the business or reveal information about the next stage of GTA 6.
The timing is central to the dispute. Developers involved in the union effort were dismissed at the end of October. Days later, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 had moved from its planned May 2026 release to November 2026. That sequence prompted questions about whether development delays, the forthcoming announcement and the dismissals were connected.
Management explains the alleged urgency
The lawyer representing the dismissed workers challenged Kinloch’s description of the threat as urgent, asking whether waiting 18 months could reasonably be described as acting “as quickly as possible”.
Lawyer: Your statement describes an urgent and serious threat to the business and says Rockstar had to act as quickly as possible. Is 18 months “as quickly as possible”?
Kinloch: The circumstances had changed. Discord membership was growing rapidly, and Rockstar could not identify the names of perhaps half or more of the people joining. He said the increasingly open criticism of internal processes appeared to be rising alongside the server’s growth, shortly before a major business announcement.
Lawyer: One post concerned an allegation that a former director had bullied an employee, failed to provide work-from-home arrangements related to ASD and failed to redeploy them. Was that a straightforward discrimination allegation?
Kinloch: He said such information would have been less commercially sensitive at an earlier point, when Rockstar had no imminent major announcement. As the company approached the release of GTA 6, however, he believed leaked material could generate media attention, clicks and financial value for whoever released it, while causing commercial damage to Rockstar.
Kinloch also said the expanding Discord membership increased the risk that proprietary information could be exposed. The two sides disagree about how securely the server was organised.
The dismissed employees say users were separated into different channels and that identities were verified before access to union-related discussions was granted. Rockstar has claimed that at least one journalist was present in a channel and that sensitive subjects, including a previously mysterious “32-player format”, were discussed.
The unresolved question of “AB”
AB remains a significant witness to the question of why the Discord server was monitored. Rockstar maintains that AB voluntarily passed information about colleagues’ activities to management. However, AB will not be available for questioning during the hearing.
The workers’ lawyer argued that Rockstar should be required to explain AB’s motives and its decision not to call the person. The lawyer said the court should consider an “adverse inference” in support of the claim that Rockstar rewarded AB and others with time off in lieu for monitoring union activity.
Those allegations remain contested, and the tribunal has not reached a final finding. The hearing is due to continue next week, with further Rockstar management witnesses expected to give evidence.
What happens next for GTA 6?
GTA 6 is described in the proceedings as being just over a month from release. The dismissed employees have said they are not asking players to boycott the game, instead encouraging support for their legal case.
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