Rockstar Confirms GTA 6 Leaks Were Real Through Court Battle with Sacked Devs

Court proceedings rarely make for gripping drama. Except when Rockstar's involved.

The Grand Theft Auto studio finds itself in a proper mess. Whilst defending mass sackings at a Glasgow tribunal, Rockstar accidentally validated several GTA 6 leaks they'd rather have kept buried.

Judge Frances Eccles rejected interim relief for 34 ex-developers on 13th January 2026. Translation? No emergency wages. No temporary reinstatement. The IWGB union demanded both, claiming Rockstar's October 2025 firings were textbook union-busting dressed up as leak prevention.

Rockstar's legal team insists otherwise. These staffers shared classified information about unannounced projects in a Discord server accessible to hundreds, including journalists and rival studio employees. That crossed the line, according to the company.

Problem is, in proving their case, Rockstar confirmed the leaks.

What the Court Documents Actually Revealed

People Make Games reviewed tribunal filings containing Discord messages Rockstar deemed "top secret." One October 2025 exchange discussed a 32-player playtest session for GTA 6's online mode. A fired developer grumbled about scheduling difficulties when Rockstar refused to let more than five people take time off simultaneously.

"Not sure how that was difficult," they wrote, referencing the 32-player session logistics.

Another colleague replied: "Sounds like you have multiple studios of QA testers, surely someone can manage to organise a 32 player session and let people have their time off."

Trivial detail? Perhaps. But Rockstar's legal representative refused to read these messages aloud in open court due to their sensitivity. Then journalists published them anyway.

We've learnt GTA 6's multiplayer will support at least 32 concurrent players (matching GTA Online's current capacity). We've learnt Rockstar's internal documentation runs over 1,000 pages. We've learnt the company debates which generative AI applications pass legal muster.

That last bit? Another Discord message asked: "I would both love and hate to know what uses of gen AI legal have approved."

Speculation about AI-generated building interiors and procedural NPC behaviour now seems less speculative.

The Union Angle Gets Messy

Here's where things get properly tangled.

Rockstar maintains the dismissals stemmed purely from confidentiality breaches. The IWGB claims Rockstar covertly monitored a private union Discord, then manufactured grounds for termination.

Judge Eccles noted some complications in the IWGB's case. Three dismissed employees worked in Canada and weren't union members. The Discord channel included former employees, journalists, and other non-Rockstar personnel. About half the server's users actually worked for the studio.

One person sacked sent precisely one message: "Nothing that I've heard in North QA!"

Bloomberg reports Rockstar's HR Director Charlie Kinloch accessed the Discord chats by borrowing another employee's account. The IWGB frames this as digital impersonation. Rockstar views it as legitimate security monitoring.

The judge observed something else: Rockstar provided no evidence of actual harm from the Discord activity. No financial losses documented. No concrete proof these specific conversations damaged the company beyond hypothetical risk.

Despite denying interim relief, Eccles highlighted procedural concerns. Rockstar conducted no formal investigation. Offered no appeals process. Dismissed people swiftly without hearings.

"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," a Rockstar spokesperson told Kotaku.

IWGB President Alex Marshall countered: "Despite being refused interim relief today, we've come out of last week's hearing more confident than ever that a full tribunal will find Rockstar's calculated attempt to crush a union to be not only unjust but unlawful."

Why This Matters Beyond One Studio

Over 220 current Rockstar North employees signed an open letter demanding colleague reinstatement. Protests erupted outside offices in Edinburgh, London, and Paris. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation "deeply concerning" during Parliament sessions.

[IMAGE_HERE: Photo of protests outside Rockstar offices or workers holding signs]

When GTA 6's delay announcement hit markets, Take-Two Interactive lost $3.75 billion in market value in a single day. The company's sensitivity to information control makes sense financially.

But labour law doesn't bend to market capitalisation.

Rockstar's statement emphasised zero-tolerance for leaks: "Global interest in our games is unparalleled. Even the smallest leak of any information relating to our products and practices can cause major commercial and creative damage."

The IWGB argues discussing workplace conditions and organising activity shouldn't qualify as leaking when it occurs in supposedly private union spaces.

The full tribunal hearing won't arrive for 12 to 24 months. GTA 6 launches 19th November 2026. One race finishes before the other, and Rockstar knows it.

The Broader Pattern

Rockstar confirmed additional leak-related terminations during proceedings:

• April 2025: Lincoln Studio developer shared GTA 6 information with a third party who posted it publicly
• November 2025: Rockstar India employee terminated for similar breach
• Undated: US-based developer sacked over unrelated leak

The studio's 2018 workplace culture reports documented systematic crunch and "death march" development cycles. Rockstar claims it's addressed those issues in recent years. This tribunal will test whether reforms extended to how the company handles organised labour.

Judge Eccles' decision represents a procedural setback, not a final verdict. Both sides prepare for the substantive hearing where questions of lawful dismissal versus union suppression get properly argued.

Meanwhile, those 31 UK-based workers face months without income. Some risk losing work visas and deportation from the country they've called home.

Rockstar welcomes the interim ruling. The IWGB vows to fight on.

And somewhere in all this mess, buried in court documents no one was supposed to read, sits confirmation that GTA 6's online mode will support 32-player sessions.

Funny how that works.