Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto 6 have been getting a lot of heat lately over various controversies surrounding the game’s delayed launch and accusations of union busting at its Edinburgh office earlier this year. New information from these fired GTA 6 developers sheds some light on the situation, and it doesn’t bode well for Rockstar.

In a new report from People Make Games on Bluesky, fired GTA 6 developers suggest that Rockstar gained access and was monitoring a private union Discord server and targeted employees illegally on the grounds of “gross misconduct.”

The devs seemed to have been targeted for sharing internal work emails on the server, which is against Rockstar policy, but the nature of those emails is what’s raising concerns over union-busting. Rockstar has provided no further comment on the accusations aside from its original statement.

GTA 6 Is Already Mired In Controversy

GTA 6‘s devastating second delay was already a huge controversy for Rockstar Games and parent organization Take-Two, but it certainly didn’t help public opinion when accusations of union-busting surfaced. Protests outside Rockstar’s Edinburgh offices have been ongoing since the firing of 34 employees on the grounds of “gross misconduct.”

The fired devs have finally revealed what they believe to be the messages that got them fired, pointing to conversations where internal emails were shared. The Discord included conversations about “union recruitment, pay and working conditions,” with employees discussing “salaries and bonus payments,” topics that would technically be protected under UK’s Equality Act of 2010.

Reports suggest that the company focused in on a conversation regarding “internal Slack policy changes” as grounds for an investigation into the union Discord server. After a series of emails were shared that broke company policy, Rockstar was alerted by a non-union employee and the devs were more or less immediately terminated.

Ex-Rockstar Devs Allege Poor Working Conditions

The fired Rockstar employees cited their discussion over poor working conditions as a key reason for their firing, a concern that has been aired publicly in the past when it comes to Rockstar’s practices.

Reports over the years, dating as far back to work on Red Dead Redemption, have suggested excessive overtime expectations and ridiculous work hours, among other issues with the company’s work culture.

Ultimately, Grand Theft Auto 6 studio Rockstar have not offered any further statements regarding the accusations of union-busting, implying they intend to maintain their original posture that the terminations had nothing to do with union busting and were solely based on “gross misconduct” that broke company policy.