The Glasgow Employment Tribunal has recently rejected the application for interim relief for the fired Rockstar developers which is a legal mechanism that would’ve enabled financial support for the employees while they wait for a full hearing. The judge has stated that so far, the fired employees of Rockstar Games haven’t been able to provide evidence that they were dismissed by the company on the ground of being part of any union.
“In all the circumstances, the tribunal 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.”
“We welcome the decision, which is consistent with Rockstar’s position throughout,” a spokesperson for Rockstar Games stated to IGN regarding the Judge’s stance on the relief for the dismissed workers.
“We regret that we were put in a position where dismissals were necessary, but we stand by our course of action as supported by the outcome of this hearing.”
Rockstar has previously claimed that the firings of it’s employees were done solely cause they were involved in leaking game features for upcoming and unannounced titles in Discord and not because they were trying to unionize. As a result, a total of 34 staff of the studio were dismissed, 31 in the UK and three in Canada which also led to multiple protests outside the office of Rockstar North in Edinburgh, Scotland and parent company Take-Two’s office in London.
However, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has issued a lengthy statement to IGN which suggests the ongoing case is actually far from being settled:
“The facts of the matter remain shocking, such as how Rockstar management have now admitted to covertly monitoring their employees on this private Discord by impersonating a member of staff. Rather than focusing their case on evidence that Rockstar acted fairly and reasonably in their decision to fire 31 people on the spot, the argument resided largely on legal technicalities, with Rockstar’s lawyers declaring that it doesn’t matter if the dismissals were unfair, or if the leadership that dismissed them acted with malice.”
The entire situation could very well put some stain on Rockstar’s reputation as a company which wouldn’t be desirable for obvious reasons, especially at a time when the entire world is waiting for their upcoming Open World behemoth GTA 6 that’s currently slated to launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on May 26, 2026.
