Rockstar claims recent firings were for leaking confidential game information, union fires back

After firing 31 employees last month for allegedly engaging in “gross misconduct,” Rockstar Games has doubled down on its position that the decision was not related to any attempts to unionize, leading to another response from the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

The details:

• In early November, Rockstar fired a group of employees, claiming that they had shared sensitive company information online via Discord. However, the studio was accused of union busting after it was reported that the Discord server consisted of developers discussing unionization, eventually leading to UK prime minister Keir Starmer prompting an investigation into the situation.
• The studio has issued another response to the allegations, doubling down on its previous statement that the firings were not tied to any union activities. In a new statement sent to IGN, Rockstar alleges that those involved had leaked information related to upcoming and unannounced games. "Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations,” the statement reads. “Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading."
• The IWGB has since responded to the statement, accusing Rockstar of "reverse engineering a rationale for the dismissals." The trade union asserts that the company’s comments are “littered with falsehoods and disinformation,” and that it has “chosen to mischaracterize workers speaking about their working conditions in a private forum as 'leaking information’” in an attempt to deflect criticism.