Rockstar Employment Tribunal Final Hearing Begins, GTA 6 Online Format Called a Closely Guarded Secret
The five-week final hearing into the dismissal of 34 Rockstar UK workers began September 10 at Glasgow, with testimony revealing Rockstar considers its GTA 6 online player-count among its most sensitive secrets.
The employment tribunal case that Rockstar Games has been fighting since late 2025 entered its final stage on September 10, 2026, when a five-week hearing opened at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal. The hearing is expected to run through October 16 — just five weeks before GTA 6 launches on November 19.
What the Case Is About
Rockstar dismissed 34 employees from its UK studios in October 2025 without notice, citing gross misconduct. The company alleged the workers had shared confidential game information in a private Discord server connected to the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB). The dismissed employees dispute that characterisation, arguing the dismissals were an act of union-busting and unlawful blacklisting intended to punish workers for organising collectively.
An earlier attempt by Rockstar to have the case dismissed at a preliminary stage was rejected by the tribunal judge, clearing the way for the full five-week final hearing that began this month. Both sides are now presenting witnesses and documentary evidence before the tribunal.
Testimony and GTA 6 Online Details
The September hearing has produced some of the most direct public acknowledgement yet of GTA 6’s online component. Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar’s Head of Publishing, testified that she found it “extraordinarily alarming” to learn that employees had been discussing an online player count for a then-unannounced title in a private server.
Court documents in the case describe one subject of those internal discussions as a 32-player online format for Grand Theft Auto VI — a figure Rockstar’s own legal submissions characterised as “one of the most closely guarded secrets of the company.” Kolbe’s testimony reinforces just how seriously Rockstar treats the undisclosed details of GTA 6 Online’s design.
That said, the 32-player figure should not be taken as a confirmed final specification. It emerged through legal proceedings, not an official announcement, and the format may have evolved since those internal conversations took place. Rockstar has yet to officially detail any aspect of GTA 6’s multiplayer component.
What Comes Next
The tribunal is expected to conclude proceedings around mid-October, though a ruling is unlikely to come quickly after the hearing ends. A verdict on whether the 34 dismissals constituted unfair dismissal or unlawful blacklisting could therefore arrive after GTA 6 has already launched on November 19.
The Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU), which has been engaged in parallel voluntary-recognition talks with Rockstar management since at least July 2026, has described the tribunal case as central to the question of whether the October 2025 dismissals were connected to employees’ union organising activity. Rockstar maintains the dismissals were entirely justified on gross misconduct grounds.
Sources: GTA BOOM; New Game Network; GTA 6 News; VG Times.