News
The Rockstar Tribunal Begins: 31 Claimants and Five Weeks Listed
The final hearing into Rockstar’s October 2025 dismissals opened at the Glasgow Tribunal Centre on Thursday 10 September. It is listed for roughly five weeks, and it covers more ground than the interim-relief hearing that made headlines in January.
This is the case that was refused interim relief in January 2026 and which much of the press treated, at the time, as settled in Rockstar's favour. It was not settled. That hearing decided whether the dismissed workers should receive emergency pay pending trial. This is the trial.
The basic facts of the hearing
- VenueGlasgow Tribunal Centre, 3 Atlantic Quay, 20 York Street, Glasgow
- OpenedThursday 10 September 2026
- Listed until16 October 2026 — roughly five weeks, sitting weekdays
- Claimants31, according to the IWGB
Note on that last figure: the union puts the number of claimants at 31. Press reporting on the October 2025 dismissals themselves has given numbers between 30 and 34. We have not found an explanation for the difference and are not going to invent one — the number dismissed and the number who brought claims need not be the same.
What is actually being claimed
Three strands, and the second is the one that has grown since January:
- Unfair dismissal on the grounds that the real reason was trade union activity.
- Blacklisting — the allegation that Rockstar acted to prevent former employees from finding future work because of their union involvement.
- Procedural unfairness — the IWGB says the workers were dismissed “without disciplinary process or right of appeal”.
The June ruling that made the blacklisting claim possible
On 19 June 2026 the tribunal refused Rockstar's application to strike out the blacklisting allegations, allowing them to proceed to this hearing. The IWGB's Game Workers Branch chair Spring McParlin-Jones described that as “a significant setback for Rockstar's efforts to evade scrutiny”.
That ruling is why this hearing is broader than the case that was reported in January.
The two positions
Rockstar
Rockstar's position, as reported, is that the staff were dismissed for gross misconduct following the sharing of confidential company information, and not because of trade union membership or activity. The company has previously said the material was discussed in a forum that included non-employees.
The claimants and the IWGB
The union says the workers were “unlawfully blacklisted and targeted for their union activities”. Reporting on the hearing indicates the Discord discussions at the centre of the case concerned a new company Slack policy — that is, working conditions rather than game content.
Jason Lewis, one of the former employees, is quoted by the union: “None of us imagined that talking to each other about our working conditions would turn our lives upside down.” IWGB president Alex Marshall: “We believe Rockstar has tried to get away with Grand Theft Employment Rights.”
The claimants are seeking a finding of unfair dismissal, with reinstatement or compensation.
At the opening
Added later on 11 September, after further reporting on the first day.
Dismissed workers and supporters gathered outside the Glasgow Tribunal Centre as the hearing opened, with IWGB flags and placards. One sign read: “Say sorry, be nice! Reinstate your fired workers.”
Two of the former employees spoke. Rachel Crawford, a programmer who had been at Rockstar around ten years: “The modern workplace runs on fear. Fear of speaking out, fear of being punished, fear of being fired, losing your livelihood, and even your home.”
Jason Lewis, a systems technical designer: “We lost our jobs, our income, our community and the chance to see the game through to release after spending years helping to build it.”
Rockstar did not provide a comment to Aftermath, which reported from the opening. Reporting elsewhere characterising Rockstar as issuing a fresh statement appears to be restating the company's existing position rather than quoting anything new.
There will be a public judgment. Employment tribunal decisions in Great Britain are published on the UK government's tribunal decisions service. That means the outcome of this case will eventually be readable in full, in the tribunal's own words, rather than only through whichever side's press release you happen to read. When it appears, we will link to it directly.
Separately: a union at Rockstar
Current Rockstar employees have established the Rockstar Games Workers Union and are seeking formal recognition from the company. That is a distinct process from this tribunal, though it arises from the same dispute.
Why this sits on a site about the game
Because it is part of the record of how Grand Theft Auto VI was made, and because the hearing runs until mid-October — which puts a verdict, if one comes quickly, close to the launch window.
We are not going to predict the outcome, and we are going to be careful about how we report it. Both sides' accounts are irreconcilable, no tribunal has yet made a finding of fact on why these dismissals happened, and the January ruling has already been misreported in both directions. The full background, with both sides set out separately, is here.
Sources
- Final hearing in legal battle over GTA firings to begin this week — IWGB, 7 September 2026. The union’s own account, including the hearing dates, venue and claimant number.
- GTA firings tribunal final hearing begins — New Game Network, 11 September 2026.
- Rockstar blacklisting claims cleared for trial — GameLuster, on the 19 June 2026 ruling.
- Fired Rockstar Games workers rally as employment tribunal begins — Aftermath, 10 September 2026, reporting from the opening.
Every factual claim above is labelled as confirmed or unconfirmed and traced to the source listed here. Where Rockstar has said nothing, this page says so rather than filling the gap.