Rockstar North didn't just fire 34 mostly UK-based developers last October over a Discord server. Court filings from the ongoing Glasgow employment tribunal reveal the company had a mole feeding screenshots, recordings, membership numbers, and activist identities to HR director Charlie Kinloch for over two and a half years, with at least 26 meetings or communications documented between February 2024 and the dismissals. The workers, represented by IWGB, allege the timing aligned precisely with the union hitting the 10% workforce threshold required for statutory recognition under UK law—announced on the server October 18, reported to management October 20, followed by direct access to the server and mass firings by month's end.

Rockstar's counter-filing admits three whistleblowers, including one embedded for 2.5 years, and frames the Discord as a security risk containing discussions of game features, delays, crunch, and internal policies like Slack changes. They cite language like "corporate fucks" and routine profanity as evidence of gross misconduct, while insisting no confidential release dates leaked. The union counters that the server was invite-only, verified via internal Slack, and that profanity was normalized in Rockstar management culture, with no actual public leaks proven. Membership dropped from ~390 to 261 within days of the firings, with 11 cancellations following.

Both sides have filed over 100 pages of submissions with thousands more in evidence, including claims Rockstar previously warned staff against union organizing and bypassed collective engagement on issues like return-to-office policies. The tribunal continues through mid-October, with the core dispute centering on whether the company struck preemptively at growing union power or legitimately protected proprietary information. No interim relief for the workers has been granted so far.

The filings also reference a 32-player online format for a confidential project, marking what appears to be Rockstar's first public acknowledgment of certain GTA 6 online details through legal documents.