Fired Rockstar Games employees deny alleged Discord leaks, insist GTA 6 studio was union busting

The back-and-forth between Rockstar Games and the more than 30 terminated employees continues. The studio recently told GameSpot that the individuals publicly discussed “confidential information” about ongoing projects. However, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has now rejected those claims.

According to the employees, they expressed concerns about working conditions on a private Discord server. In the past, management has been accused of enforcing brutal schedules in order to meet deadlines. Rockstar argues that the chatters were instead breaking NDAs, possibly revealing GTA 6 leaks.

The IWGB, which represents the workers, believes that the studio’s focus was on union busting. A union would enable the employees to lobby for higher pay or shorter hours. It would also become more difficult to keep unflattering reports of mistreatment private.

In the response sent to GameSpot, the organization says Rockstar’s most recent clarification is full of “falsehoods and disinformation.” It describes the company as engaged in a “desperate attempt to deflect from the global scrutiny they have come under over the last month.” The IWGB also points out the conflicting statements released by the company since Bloomberg first reported on the story. It contends that Rockstar wants to “reverse engineer a rationale for the dismissals.”

What will end the debate between Rockstar and the IWGB?

The controversy shows no signs of fading, with UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer now involved. He pledged that the government would investigate whether the studio acted unlawfully.

The question that most gamers have is what exactly happened in the Discord server. Unless unedited logs become public, each side may persist in making the same claims. From a profit perspective, it’s unlikely GTA 6 sales will suffer regardless. No amount of bad press about the game’s makers seems to dampen enthusiasm ahead of its release date.