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

"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 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."

More than 30 UK Rockstar Games employees were denied interim relief by an employment tribunal, which concluded it could not likely find that IWGB membership was the principal reason for their dismissals. Rockstar says it dismissed 31 developers for disclosing confidential information in an IWGB Discord channel, citing leaks of development schedules and game features. IWGB denies leaks occurred and contends the firings violated labor rights and amounted to union-busting. The tribunal noted the Discord had roughly 350 members, including former employees, and Rockstar emphasized some supportive employees were not dismissed, framing terminations as responses to mishandling company information.

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