Rockstar Games have revealed they have fired additional GTA 6 developers over leaks plus we finally have an update on the legal proceedings regarding the previously sacked employees.
Earlier this week, a preliminary employment tribunal on the alleged union busting situation took place at the Glasgow Tribunals Centre. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) requested the judge on the case to make Rockstar provide salary to the affected developers according to IGN.
Rockstar Games did have officials attend the meeting to share their side of the story. The company line was reiterated: they fired staff for leaking game features from upcoming and unannounced titles in a Discord server used for the union.
If successful, Rockstar will have to continue paying the staff until they get a date for the full trial which could be some time away. The outcome of the hearing has not been revealed just yet.
“We remain confident in the strength of the case we have brought against Rockstar Games. We reiterate our firm belief that Rockstar broke the law when it summarily dismissed 31 of our members, and we look forward now to the day we face them in court for a full and substantive tribunal hearing.” – IWGB
Rockstar Provide More Details
Rockstar sent IGN statement to once again push their stance on the matter. They “categorically” deny all of the claims that were brought to the meeting on Monday. This is because Rockstar believe necessary action was taken “against a group of individuals across the UK and Canada who discussed highly confidential information, including relating to game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in an insecure and public social channel. This was a breach of long-standing and well-understood confidentiality policies.”
The statement also contained some additional details expanding opon on what we had heard about the Discord server in the past. Rockstar say it “contained at least 25 non-Rockstar employees, including employees of competitor game developers, a video games industry journalist, as well as dozens of anonymous, unidentifiable members.”
Leaks have always been one of Rockstar’s biggest enemies. Leaks are rare due to their policies so when it does, it is a major story. Rockstar go on to say “We regret that these dismissals were necessary; however, confidentiality is fundamental to everything Rockstar Games does. 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 — as we have seen in the past — and damage the experience of our loyal players and dedicated team. This was never about union membership. We have always taken a zero-tolerance approach to unauthorized releases of information — and we always will.”
More Devs Fired
In the same response to IGN, Rockstar reveal they have gotten rid of a few developers due to unrelated incidents. They specifically note one Rockstar Lincoln staffer was fired in April last year for sharing GTA 6 details to a person that posted it all on social media.
More recently, one of the Rockstar India employees was fired for leaks in November. A US-based Rockstar worker was also sacked two years prior to that incident. All of these were unrelated leaks.
What do you think of the situation? Let us know down in the comments below. Be sure to stay tuned to RockstarINTEL for all the latest news on Rockstar Games and GTA VI.
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