GTA 6 Pressure Weighed on Firings, HR Manager Says

The buildup to GTA 6 played an important role in how Rockstar assessed internal messages before dismissing employees, according to one of the company's managers. Charlie Kinloch told an employment tribunal that unprecedented scrutiny surrounding the game increased concerns about potential damage to the company. His testimony is part of a case brought by former employees who claim they were dismissed over union activity.

The tribunal testimony

Kinloch is an HR manager and co-studio operations director at Rockstar Lincoln. He testified on October 12 at the Glasgow Tribunals Centre as part of the Rockstar Games vs Garland & Others case. The claim involves 31 former employees represented by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, or IWGB.

The claimants say they were targeted and unlawfully dismissed as part of an effort to suppress union organizing at Rockstar. The company disputes that account and maintains that the dismissals resulted from gross misconduct and the leaking of confidential information. Rockstar says 34 workers were fired following an “irretrievable breakdown in trust and confidence.”

During cross-examination, representatives for former Rockstar developers questioned statements Kinloch had made at different stages of the dispute. He initially said he did not know that employees were IWGB members. In a more recent statement, he said there was no way for him to know “definitively” which employees belonged to the union.

The claimants argued that this difference could have misled the employment court during an interim relief hearing in January 2026. Kinloch denied deliberately attempting to mislead the court. He said he believed the additional word may have been included after he was asked to provide more context.

Messages from an anonymous employee

The cross-examination also addressed messages sent to Kinloch by an anonymous employee identified in the proceedings as AB. Some of that material was later marked as evidence of gross misconduct and used in the dismissals carried out last year. According to the claimants, the messages covered union organizing, leaflet distribution and workplace complaints.

Kinloch rejected the suggestion that the material identified specific people as IWGB members. He said he had a broad interest in unionization only where it affected the work of line managers, but “little interest” in union conversations between employees. The manager said his priority was what he considered disparagement and misinformation about Rockstar.

How GTA 6 entered the case

A central question was why messages known to Kinloch in early 2024 did not immediately lead to dismissals but were used roughly 18 months later. Kinloch replied that the buildup to the release of GTA 6 played a major role in the changed assessment. He said he viewed the material in light of a level of scrutiny on Rockstar that he considered unprecedented.

The manager said media speculation and public interest were at a “peak.” In his assessment, disparaging comments becoming public could cause financial damage to the company. Kinloch also said participation in the employee Discord and the volume of critical comments were increasing ahead of a major GTA 6 announcement.

Kinloch identified two proposals discussed on Discord as particularly serious warning signs. One was the proposed launch of a Rockstar union account on Twitter, which he considered a security risk. The other was an intention to contact Bloomberg's Jason Schrier and The Guardian's Keza Macdonald.

What this changes for players

The testimony does not announce any change to the release date, platforms, price or access plans for GTA 6. Its relevance to fans is that it shows how the extraordinary attention surrounding the game began influencing internal decisions and arguments presented by Rockstar in an employment dispute. It does not establish that the game's development or release has been affected.

What remains unknown

The tribunal must still decide whether the dismissals resulted from gross misconduct and a breakdown in trust, as Rockstar argues, or formed part of an effort against union organizing, as the claimants allege. It also remains unclear how much weight the court will give Kinloch's different statements and the messages entered as evidence. The source does not provide a date for a final decision.

Eurogamer attended the first day of cross-examination involving Rockstar witnesses called to defend the company's position. The process is expected to continue the following week, when former employees affected by the dismissals are also due to attend. Until the tribunal reaches a decision, the two accounts remain contested.