Rockstar’s HR Faces Scrutiny Over Discord Leak and Timing of GTA 6 Developer Layoffs in Recent Labor Hearing

A legal battle over claims of union busting at Rockstar Games is currently unfolding at an employment tribunal in Glasgow, Scotland. The studio behind Grand Theft Auto 6 asserts that more than 30 employees were terminated last year for gross misconduct, including leaking sensitive information about the game’s development. The dismissed developers argue that Rockstar’s true motive was to thwart the UK trade group IWGB from establishing a presence within the company. Recently, Charlie Kinloch, co-studio manager and HR director at Rockstar Lincoln, faced questioning regarding a particularly surprising allegation: a junior employee acting as a mole who reportedly spied on union activities in a separate Discord server.

Last month, conflicting claims regarding the firings from the previous fall were submitted, allowing lawyers to question witnesses about the events. One claim suggests that an individual using the alias “AB” had been sharing screenshots of union discussions from the Discord server with Kinloch for over two years. This provided studio management with an alarming level of insight into developers’ private conversations, which were later used to justify their terminations. However, Kinloch had access to this information for years. Why did it take until October 2025 for Rockstar to take action?

The terminated developers argue that Kinloch received information indicating the union was just 12 members shy—10 percent of the workforce—of achieving recognized union status at Rockstar. Kinloch, however, claims he had no interest in their union status and was solely focused on mitigating risks from potential leaks. During the questioning, Kinloch explained his perspective:

Lawyer: These comments and posts on Discord, which you were aware of in March and June 2025, were not urgent concerns that required immediate investigation to protect Rockstar’s interests, or you would have acted sooner, correct?

Kinloch: It’s crucial to clarify how I viewed those comments at that time. By October, the business was on the verge of making a significant announcement about our next project. In that context, discussions about working hours, crunch, and internal operations were incredibly significant. As we approached that point in development, media speculation and public interest were at an all-time high. Any of those comments hitting the public could harm the company and misrepresent the next stages of GTA 6’s development. That was the lens through which I assessed those comments in October.

So, what was the big announcement? The developers advocating for unionization were let go at the end of October, and shortly after, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 would be delayed from May 2026 to November 2026. This led to immediate speculation about a possible connection between the firings and the development delays, particularly regarding the desire among some developers to unionize. The lawyer representing the dismissed employees pressed Kinloch on the timing:

Lawyer: In your IR statement, you mentioned, “Due to the urgent and serious threat to our business,” do you see that? “We had to act as quickly as possible.” Is 18 months considered as quickly as possible?

Kinloch: If I may provide some context…

Lawyer: If there’s anything more to add about the business situation in October 2025, please do.

Kinloch: The situation was indeed different at that time. We noticed that Discord membership was growing rapidly, and many of the new members were anonymous. The boldness of comments regarding internal processes seemed to increase alongside this growth, especially as we approached a major announcement. That’s the urgency I’m referring to.

Lawyer: Did you say “the boldness of the comments of disparagement?”

Kinloch: Yes, it appeared to increase with the rising membership in the Discord…

Lawyer: It doesn’t get much bolder than what Jacob Jones said: he claimed he was bullied out by his former director and faced discrimination due to his ASD. That’s a clear allegation of workplace discrimination, isn’t it?

Kinloch: Yes. In the broader context of a time when Rockstar had no major announcements, such information would be less commercially damaging if it became public. Fast forward a few months, and the potential damage from such comments would be significant, especially as we approached the release of GTA 6. Someone could profit from leaking that information, generating clicks and stories that would harm the business at a critical moment.

Kinloch elaborated on how the increasing membership of the Discord server, filled with unknown identities, heightened the risk of proprietary information being leaked. There are conflicting accounts regarding the server’s security. The dismissed employees assert that users were kept in separate channels and identities were verified before accessing union discussion channels. Conversely, Rockstar claims that at least one journalist was present in one of the channels, where sensitive topics like a mysterious “32 player format” were discussed.

A key witness regarding Rockstar’s monitoring of the developer Discord server is the secret “mole” known as “AB.” While Rockstar claims AB voluntarily shared information about worker activities with management, AB will not be questioned during the hearing. At one point, the lawyer for the dismissed developers argued with the judge about the necessity of getting Kinloch or others at Rockstar on record regarding AB’s intentions, aiming to establish an “adverse inference” to support their claim that Rockstar compensated AB and others with “time off in lieu” for spying on their colleagues’ union activities.

The hearing is set to continue next week, with more Rockstar management witnesses likely to testify. Meanwhile, GTA 6 is just over a month away from its long-awaited release. The fired employees have urged players not to boycott the game but to support their legal fight instead.