Rockstar Employment Tribunal Moves Closing Arguments to November 17 and 18 Ahead of GTA 6

Closing arguments in the Rockstar employment tribunal have reportedly been delayed into November and will end one day before the release of GTA 6, according to Eurogamer and GamingBolt. If you are preloading Leonida that week, the unfair-dismissal case brought by developers fired off the project will still have no verdict.

Reported Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun report the November extension; Rockstar has not commented on the new dates

The Glasgow employment tribunal opened in September over Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claims after late-2025 dismissals at the studio. IGN reported in September that 34 staff were dismissed across the UK and Canada, including 31 UK workers, while Eurogamer and Kotaku describe over 30 fired employees who had been in a union Discord.

Closing Arguments Move to 17 and 18 November

• The Glasgow hearing was originally scheduled to finish on Friday, 16 October 2026, the end date IGN reported in September and Eurogamer named on 14 October.
• Eurogamer reports that witness questioning ran long and that a request from lawyers for Rockstar for more time to cross-examine some laid-off employees was perhaps the most important of a handful of reasons for the delay, while IWGB was still cross-examining Rockstar witnesses.
• Closing submissions, where both sides present their final arguments, are now reportedly set for 17 and 18 November.
• Rock Paper Shotgun notes those unconfirmed dates reportedly fall two days before the reported 19 November launch of GTA 6 and that the judge has not ruled, while Eurogamer and GamingBolt describe the new end date as one day before release.

Rock Paper Shotgun cites a Bluesky post from Chris Bratt for the break, and Eurogamer reported the November extension on 14 October.

Launch Week Arrives With No Ruling

The scheduling move is a procedural extension for witness questioning and changes nothing about the release calendar on its own, though it puts the final courtroom showdown into launch week. Neither side has issued a statement on the new November dates. In September, before the extension, Rockstar told IGN that individuals across the UK and Canada were dismissed for gross misconduct after sharing confidential company information, not because of alleged trade union membership or activity, adding that the studio rejects the claims and will defend them vigorously before the tribunal.

IWGB and the laid-off employees say the firings were meant to stop a union, and IGN reported they are seeking reinstatement or compensation and an unfair-dismissal finding. Former Rockstar employee and IWGB member Jason Lewis said in September that workers had fought to draw a line in the sand against employers attacking staff for unionising. Meanwhile, a Rockstar Lincoln head told the tribunal he was disinterested in unionising evidence, and Kotaku reported that HR director Charlie Kinloch said he viewed Discord comments as a leak risk ahead of a commercially sensitive announcement.

Nothing in the GTA V or Red Dead Redemption 2 rollout put an active UK labor hearing against the studio into the same week players were clearing storage space for Vice City. Eurogamer raises the open question of whether GTA 6 launch noise draws extra eyes to the case or drowns it out, leaving the final hearing days right ahead of the reported launch with no ruling in between.

Earlier on GTA6Now: Glasgow opens on 34 Rockstar firings and What Happens to GTA Online When GTA 6 Arrives?.