•The employment tribunal between Grand Theft Automatiskt 6 developer Rockstar Spel and IWGB union members who were laid off from the studio has been extended into November.
The case was originally scheduled to conclude this Friday, but with witness questioning running long, the courts have pushed back closing submission dates. Both Rockstar’s and IWGB’s legal representatives will present their final arguments to the judge during these sessions, paving the way for a verdict.
The extension followed several factors, most notably a request from Rockstar’s lawyers for additional time to cross-examine some of the employees who were let go. Meanwhile, this week has seen IWGB continuing its cross-examination of Rockstar witnesses in what is proving to be a lengthy process.
As part of the extension, two further dates have been added to the trial on 17 and 18 November. Notably, these fall one day before GTA 6’s release, though whether this benefits Rockstar or the IWGB remains to be seen—whether noise around the game’s launch draws more attention to the case, or drowns it out.
The tribunal stems from the sudden firing of over 30 Rockstar employees in late 2025 for alleged gross misconduct, all of whom were members of a union Discord channel. The IWGB alleges this was an attempt at union-busting by Rockstar, while the developer claims it resulted from unauthorised sharing of information.
Last Friday, one of the heads of Rockstar Lincoln claimed he was disinterested in evidence showing efforts to unionise in the run-up to these firings, stating instead that he had been focused on other matters such as the formation of a union Twitter account.
How this case unfolds remains uncertain. As one of the landmark legal cases in UK games industry history, the consequences of either a Rockstar or IWGB victory could reverberate for some time.
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