- A judge has ruled against forcing Rockstar Games to pay the 34 fired employees interim relief after the IWGB accused the studio of union-busting
- The studio says it welcomes the decision and stands by its initial statement that claims the employees were fired for leaking company secrets
- IWGB president Alex Marshall says that despite the ruling, “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”
Rockstar Games won’t be forced to pay interim relief to 34 Grand Theft Auto 6 developers who were fired in October, a judge has ruled.
Following the layoffs last year, which Rockstar claims were due to employees leaking company secrets, The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accused the studio of union-busting. It went on to file legal claims against Rockstar and requested for the Glasgow Employment Tribunal for emergency relief earlier this month.
Now, as reported by Kotaku, a UK employment tribunal has ruled against forcing the GTA studio to pay out interim relief, delivering the first blow in the ongoing dispute.
The ruling read that the tribunal “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,” and the legal battle will continue.
In a statement to GamesRadar+, an IWGB spokesperson said the ruling “is disappointing but does nothing to dampen our hopes of winning justice when the full hearing takes place.”
“We are emerging from this hearing, having now had a glimpse of Rockstar’s flimsy grounds for defence, feeling bolstered in our claims that these firings were not just deeply unjust but also plainly unlawful,” the spokesperson added. “The judge stated in her ruling that: ‘There was no evidence of the respondent having suffered any adverse consequences as a result of these postings’.”
The employees involved in the dispute were involved in a Discord set up by the IWGB to help with union organizing; however, Rockstar alleged that the 31 fired UK developers were fired for leaking confidential information in the channel.
IWGB later denied the claims and accused Rockstar of union-busting, which the studio has denied, and has now accused it of “covertly monitoring” employees in the channel by “impersonating” a union staff member.
“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 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 initial ruling states that the Discord included around 350 members, including former Rockstar employees, at least one of whom had previously published articles about the company online.
A Rockstar spokesperson pointed out that the Discord also included current employees who shared support for unionizing and who weren’t fired, reiterating its initial statement that the firings were due to the leaking of company secrets.
Though it’s unclear if the situation is linked, GTA 6 was delayed shortly after the firings and is now due to launch on November 19, 2026.
“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 Rockstar spokesperson told Kotaku.
“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.”
In December, UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer also said the UK Parliament would investigate union-busting allegations against Rockstar, calling the case “deeply concerning”.
The IWGB is currently representing the dismissed employees and the legal battle, which accuses that Rockstar’s conduct “constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting”, will continue.
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