GTA 6 Studio Rockstar accuses fired employee of 'leaking confidential information in public forum'

Rockstar Games is accusing its recently fired employees of leaking confidential information.

last week, Grand Theft Auto 6 studio reportedly laid off 30 to 40 employees The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claimed the move was a “blatant” and “callous” act of union-busting.

At the time, Rockstar parent company Take-Two issued a statement insisting the dismissal was due to “serious misconduct and no other reason.”

According to Bloombergthe fired workers, all based in the UK and Canada, were also members of a private union chat group on Discord and were either union members or trying to organize Rockstar. The IWGB claimed that the staff were expressly dismissed for their union activities.

Now, a new Bloomberg The report contains the latest statement from Take-Two, which maintains that the fired employees leaked company secrets in a “public forum.”

“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were caught distributing and discussing confidential information in public forums in violation of our company policies,” a Take-Two statement read. “This has nothing to do with people's rights to join a union or engage in union activity.”

According to the IWGB, the fired employees were members of a private union group on Discord, where the only non-Rockstar personnel were labor organizers.

These firings come ahead of GTA 6's expected release next May. Analysts predict it will be the largest entertainment event ever. Amid the huge excitement for the game itself, Rockstar is keeping its cards close to its chest by releasing only two trailers and a series of screenshots.

It also focuses on safety after a disaster A lot of leaks of “GTA 6” in development 2022, and GTA 6 trailer 1 released early The following year. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called the 2022 leak “very unfortunate… We do take incidents like this very seriously.” He added: “There's no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing, and the leak certainly won't have any impact on development or anything like that, but it's very disappointing and makes us even more vigilant about issues related to cybersecurity.”

Last year, the studio Requiring employees to come to the office five days a weekciting a desire to increase productivity and safety. This decision is Criticized by workers affiliated with IWGBhe said Rockstar broke its promise and was forced to return to the office, accusing the studio of refusing to engage with employees about the issue.

Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].