Rockstar GamesRockstar Games has again affirmed that developers working on GTA 6 were fired from their studios for leaking “confidential information” and features from unreleased games as the UK government has stepped in.
Back on October 31, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that Rockstar Games had fired up to 40 employees from their studios in the UK and Canada. The iconic game developers were accused of “union busting” by some of the fired developers, sparking protests outside their offices in Edinburgh and Scotland.
Rockstar hit back at those claims, saying that the former employees had been let go for “gross misconduct” with regard to leaking content from unreleased games, including Grand Theft Auto 6.
Almost two months on, and the situation hasn’t settled down. In fact, the Prime Minister of the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, called it a “deeply concerning” situation, pledging that ministers would investigate further during a Prime Minister’s Question Time on December 10.
Rockstar addresses UK Goverment’s response to firings
Since then, Rockstar has doubled down on their reasoning, telling IGN that employees were let go after they “distributed and discussed confidential information in a public forum.”
“Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations,” they said in a fresh statement.
“Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading.”
Rockstar GamesIWGB hits back at Rockstar’s newest statement
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, IWGB, hit back at Rockstar’s statement, saying it is “littered with falsehoods and disinformation.”
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“Rockstar’s latest statement is littered with falsehoods and disinformation – they have given multiple, conflicting reasons to explain why the workers were fired, as if attempting to reverse engineer a rationale for the dismissals. Once again, they have chosen to mischaracterise workers speaking about their working conditions in a private forum as ‘leaking information.’
“It is hard to understand this statement as anything but a desperate attempt to deflect from the global scrutiny they have come under over the last month. From the UK Prime Minister in the House of Commons, to the game developers across the world erupting in protest – all eyes are on Rockstar and their lawless attack on the people who make them their billions.”
DexertoA developer, who was not affected by the firings, posted on the GTAForums that other employees “fear” further delays to GTA 6 as a result of the cut down.
“These are very senior artists, animators, QA testers, designers, programmers and producers. Including Leads. All super talented people who were proud of their work over multiple R* titles, and all they wanted was the best for R* and their fellow colleagues,” they said.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has already been delayed twice, with its new release date set for November 19, 2026.