The studio said the firings - which took place across several incidents between 2023 and 2025 - were solely related to breaches of long-standing confidentiality policies, pushing back firmly against claims that the dismissals were linked to union activity.
The issue has come to the fore as Rockstar faces allegations of union-busting fromThe Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), claims which the studio has strongly denied.
In a statement to IGN, Rockstar said employees in the UK, Canada, India and the U.S. were terminated after sharing “highly confidential information” about upcoming and unannounced projects in “insecure and public” channels.
According to the company, one such channel included around 25 non-Rockstar members, among them developers from rival studios, a video game journalist and other unaffiliated individuals.
Rockstar stressed that the action was narrowly targeted, and employees who shared union-supportive messages but did not violate confidentiality rules were not dismissed, undercutting suggestions that the firings were politically motivated.
The confirmation has reignited speculation within the GTA community about the origins of past leaks, including detailed plot claims and early descriptions of gameplay systems that surfaced online in 2023.
Some fans have also pointed to accurate predictions made by prominent leakers about the identities of protagonists Jason and Lucia.
Rockstar has not confirmed whether any specific public leak can be directly tied to the firings, urging caution around online conjecture.
The controversy lands at a sensitive moment for GTA VI, as recent reports suggest the project could be delayed for the third time.
During an appearance on the Ringer-Verse’s Button Mash podcast, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said: “This is a big and complicated game.
“This time around, this is a big and complicated game, and the last I heard, it was still not content complete.
“That is to say that people were still finishing things up, still finalizing levels and missions, and seeing what’s going to make it into the game.”
