Rockstar reveals they fired more GTA 6 devs over leaks amid lawsuit

Rockstar Games revealed that they fired another set of Grand Theft Auto developers following leaks around GTA 6. 

Back in November, Rockstar Games fired more than 30 Grand Theft Auto 6 developers, claiming that the dismissals were for “gross misconduct and for no other reason.” This reasoning came after workers claimed that they were fired for wanting to unionize, claiming that Rockstar had been “union-busting.” 

Since then, there have been protests from the ex-Rockstar Games employees and union members. This has been followed by many calls for the developers to be reinstated and paid for their time. 

Following the dismissals and resulting protests, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) filed a legal complaint against Rockstar. That has now gone to court, with more information being revealed. 

More GTA 6 devs fired over game leaks

One of the biggest new pieces of information that has surfaced revolves around Rockstar firing more employees over GTA 6 leaks. 

The Grand Theft Auto creators revealed that one dev from their Lincoln studio was fired in April for leaking information about the new game to someone else, who subsequently published it on social media. 

Two other developers, one in India and another in the United States, were also fired. The Rockstar India employee was let go in November. However, the three leaks were “unrelated.” 

The 34 fired developers were also denied interim relief by UK Employment Judge Frances Eccles during the legal case on January 12.

The IWGB accepted that winning the interim relief, which will affect workers who had been working on visas, would have been “almost unprecedented” due to the size of the group.

“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 told Bloomberg following the January 12 ruling. 

The union has raised questions about Rockstar’s surveillance of the Discord server from which they retrieved evidence. They claim that someone “impersonated another member of staff to covertly monitor the developers.”

The case is likely to rumble on with further legal appeals from the IWGB and former Rockstar workers.