Rockstar Games says devs dismissed due to leaking confidential info on Discord, not unionizing

Rockstar Games has followed up last week's claims of 'gross misconduct', alleging that the 30+ employees fired were let go for leaking confidential information.

Late last week, there were allegations levied against Rockstar Games that the publisher had laid off over 30 employees in an attempt to stamp out union activity. Rockstar had previously claimed that the layoffs were over "gross misconduct" and, on Wednesday, the company elaborated on this explanation, noting that the layoffs were the result of leaking confidential information.

"Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies," a Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg. "This was in no way related to people's right to join a union or engage in union activities."

Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive had fired over 30 employees back on October 31, an action that the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain called a "ruthless act of unionbusting." The affected workers had been part of a private trade union chat on Discord, one that had been discussing unionization efforts at Rockstar. The IWGB has not issued a comment on this latest statement from Rockstar, but Shacknews has reached out for comment and will update this post with any response.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently slated for a May 26, 2026 release. Shacknews is continuing to monitor this story. Be sure to watch the Rockstar Games topic page for any updates.