Nearly a year ago, Rockstar North suddenly dismissed 31 employees, and the final labor arbitration hearing for this case is now underway. Rockstar Games and the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) are engaged in fierce opening statements, clashing intensely.
Yesterday, the hearing officially began in Glasgow, Scotland, with the full text of both sides' opening statements disclosed by Eurogamer. The core of the dispute revolves around a private Discord server managed by IWGB, focusing on the discussions within that server. Hundreds of Rockstar employees had hoped to use this server to organize and establish an officially recognized union, but Rockstar claims that the server involved leaks of confidential information.
The 31 dismissed employees represented by IWGB claim that Rockstar had been secretly monitoring the Discord server through an "insider" since at least February 2024. Rockstar only took punitive measures a few days after the proportion of union members among employees reached the 10% threshold required for union certification under UK law.
In its opening statement, IWGB said: "Rockstar asks the tribunal to believe that after monitoring the server for nearly two years without taking any disciplinary action, it just happened to discover misconduct sufficient to immediately dismiss these employees at the exact moment the union became eligible for certification. These former employees believe that contemporary evidence points to a simpler, more realistic, and more credible explanation: Rockstar cracked down on the union because it had become capable of exercising collective bargaining rights."
IWGB's statement records show that over 21 months, Rockstar's cybersecurity personnel reportedly held dozens of meetings with the "insider," with contact frequency increasing significantly when union membership surpassed the 10% threshold in October 2025. IWGB claims that during the subsequent "purge," Rockstar specifically targeted "most of the union's core organizers." These employees were summoned by Rockstar under the guise of "progress sync meetings," only to be handed pre-written termination letters, then escorted out of the office area without any opportunity to appeal or negotiate.
Rockstar naturally denies these allegations. Its defense largely aims to help the tribunal understand the company's deep-rooted culture of confidentiality, as well as the immense value and industry status of Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar stated that its security standards are comparable to those of Wall Street banks, and its efforts to protect trade secrets are akin to Coca-Cola protecting its secret formula or Apple protecting its core technology.
Therefore, Rockstar stated that all visitors entering the office "must" sign non-disclosure agreements, and on-site contractors are accompanied by security personnel at all times. Remote work is "strictly limited," external storage devices are "completely banned," photography is "strictly prohibited," and personal phones, tablets, and laptops are "unable to access" Rockstar's internal systems.
Rockstar claimed that the company's security and systems are "frequently attacked," stating that "someone even tried to use a drone to sneak photos through office windows, forcing the company to apply privacy film to the building." The company also mentioned a phishing attack in 2022 that led to "dozens of videos of unfinished GTA 6 development footage being leaked onto Slack." In response, the company assembled a full-time team consisting of one supervisor and five investigators "responsible for monitoring and investigating potential data breaches."
Rockstar also mentioned the recent leak of GTA 6 videos by Cyberleek: "Just in the past few weeks, a hacker group attempted to extort us. If further proof is needed that our emphasis on security and confidentiality is justified, it is this: after the hacker incident went public, the parent company's stock price lost $2 billion in value within a few days."
Rockstar stated that the external demand for information about GTA 6 is extremely intense, and the company faces an "unimaginable level of attention." It is alleged that external parties even monitor "how often employees go to coffee shops and the number of pizza deliveries sent to Rockstar's offices" in an attempt to glean internal developments. In 2023, a leak of a "return to office" plan "triggered global media coverage and various speculations about GTA 6's release date."
Against this backdrop, Rockstar claims that the "whistleblower" in IWGB's Discord server—who allegedly had only provided sporadic information to the company since 2023—was "deeply shocked" by what they saw and proactively contacted the company, prompting Rockstar to take action. Rockstar allegedly then gained access to the server and took measures after learning about the internal situation. This is Rockstar's explanation for IWGB's question about "why they acted suddenly."
Rockstar claims that upon entering the Discord server, they found a journalist and some former employees who had "poor relations with the company and therefore deliberately harmed its interests." However, IWGB insists that the Discord server is invite-only, with restricted access, and requires "identity verification through Rockstar's internal Slack platform." It was used solely for discussing union-related matters, such as meetings, training, surveys, petitions, collective responses, consultations, and representation. Both sides confirmed that the largest channel in the server had nearly 350 members.
Rockstar also stated that a large amount of "malicious defamation" against the company was found on the server, including phrases like "cowardly corporate bastards," as well as words such as "idiots," "narcissists," "sadists," and "mongrels." More importantly, the company allegedly discovered discussions about game features—described as "one of the company's highest-level secrets." Rockstar stated: "Two individuals discussed the 32-player online mode, which was highly confidential at the time." Furthermore, it is alleged that people were already speculating on the server that the game would be delayed until fall 2026, even before any official announcement.
Rockstar concluded: "There can be only one reason for the dismissals, and only one core reason. Simply put, these employees were dismissed because their misconduct on Discord caused a complete and irreparable breakdown of trust between the two parties."
"If, as these former employees claim, Rockstar has been hostile toward IWGB since 2023 and feared the union reaching the 10% certification threshold, then it would be insane for the defendant to wait until the union crossed the threshold before acting, and to simultaneously dismiss 31 union members within 48 hours. Their argument is completely untenable."
Outside yesterday's labor arbitration hearing, some of the dismissed employees gathered to hold a protest rally with signs. In a passionate speech, one former employee stated that this struggle against Rockstar is essentially a struggle against fear. "Fear wants to dominate us," he said. "It closes our minds, hearts, and horizons, making us narrow-minded, sad, and despairing. But today, we confront fear. This long-awaited hearing is an opportunity to trample fear underfoot."
This arbitration hearing is expected to last five weeks, during which both sides will submit evidence and undergo cross-examination. Regardless of the outcome, this is a landmark case in the realm of union rights within the gaming industry—it has even attracted the attention of the UK Parliament. If the tribunal rules in favor of the dismissed employees, it will be a historic victory. We will continue to follow the detailed progress of the hearing in the coming weeks.