Rockstar Mole Spied on Union Discord for Over Two Years
Court filings reveal Rockstar Games had an informant inside a union Discord server for over two and a half years, leading to the firing of 34 employees in
Rockstar Games had an informant inside a union-organised Discord server for over two and a half years, according to legal documents filed this week. The revelation comes from opening submissions in an employment tribunal case brought by 34 UK-based developers fired by the Grand Theft Auto maker in October 2025 for alleged gross misconduct.
According to the court filing from the ousted workers, Rockstar employees affiliated with the IWGB Game Workers union set up the Rockstar Game Workers Union Discord Server in 2022. The lawyers claim there was previously no official workplace channel for discussing concerns independent of management. By October 2025, the server had around 340 members.
The Company's Informant
The former workers allege that from at least February 2024, Rockstar HR director Charlie Kinloch received information from a junior employee about trade union activity on the server. They claim that over 21 months, at least 26 meetings or communications occurred between Kinloch and this employee, with roughly half initiated by Kinloch himself.
The informant reportedly supplied screenshots, recordings, and reports on union meetings, training sessions, and membership numbers. On October 7, 2025, the mole allegedly told Kinloch the union was 12 members away from the statutory threshold for official recognition. The union reached that milestone on October 18, with Kinloch learning of it on October 20, the fired workers claim. Rockstar began firing members of the Discord at the end of the month.
Rockstar's own court submission mentions three "whistleblowers" on the Discord who reported security concerns. The company's lawyers state one member had been leaking information to management "for over two and a half years". They say that between October 13 and 16, a server member supplied Rockstar bosses with login details. Prior to this, Rockstar claims it was "largely in the dark" about server events, save for "occasional glimpses" from the primary informant.
Conflicting Views on Server Security
The legal filings present starkly different pictures of the union Discord server's security. The unionised workers argue the server was invite-only and access-restricted, with verification through Rockstar's internal Slack platform. Invited users were placed in a waiting room until approved by moderators who could verify them via Slack. They point out that "no confidential information is known to have leaked from the Server into the public domain".
Rockstar, however, argues the information on Discord was vulnerable in numerous ways. The company lists potential leaks from a discontented user, loss or theft of personal devices, phishing, social engineering, or hacking of Discord itself. Rockstar supports this by noting someone was indeed leaking information: the aforementioned whistleblower.
In their filing, Rockstar offers a breakdown of the server's structure, portraying it as having three main areas:
| Room Type | Access Before August 3 | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IWGB Committee/Working Groups | No Access | For union committee members only; Rockstar couldn't access before a court-ordered disclosure. |
| General IWGB Members | No Access | For union members; initially inaccessible to Rockstar. |
| General Room (~350 people) | Gained Access Oct 13-16 | Contained some anonymous users and self-identified Rockstar employees. |
Rockstar claims that "26 on an initial analysis" of people in the third room were not actual employees, while 10 others were former staff. The company states some former employees had "left in poor standing with the business and were therefore well motivated to cause harm to it". The ousted workers acknowledge former employees were members but say they were confined to certain channels, not the General and Announcements channels Rockstar accessed. Rockstar also repeats an earlier accusation that one Discord member was a working journalist.
The Nature of the Shared Information
The parties fiercely disagree on what information was shared on the server. Rockstar alleges it ranged from discussions of digital and real-world security measures and internal HR emails to "closely guarded secrets" about game projects. This included an "online 32 player format" for a "highly confidential" project. The company claims Discord users shared "many, many pieces of information" regarding GTA 6's development, including delays, overtime, and crunch.
The former workers argue that "no posts were witnessed as disclosing the date on which GTA VI would be released, the date of any trailer, or comparable confidential release information". They state the posts generally discussed workplace policies essential to trade union organising. Many posts about office goings-on considered "egregious" by Rockstar were "trivial as matters of discipline but... Legitimate as matters of concern to a trade union representing its members".
Aftermath of the Dismissals
Lawyers for the fired workers allege the abrupt dismissal of 34 staff had "an immediate chilling effect" on the Discord server. Membership reportedly fell from around 390 to 261 within days, with 136 people leaving and only nine new joins. Eleven Rockstar employees cancelled their IWGB memberships in the following week. They broadly claim Rockstar "identified and removed members and activists of a rapidly growing trade union, including many of those central to its organising structures, for the purpose of disabling the wider organisation".
The warring parties disagree on whether Rockstar is generally hostile towards unions. Rockstar's lawyers point out the company did not dismiss every union member on the Discord and that three of the dismissed workers were not union members. Those three were based in Canada, outside the scope of a UK union, though the fired workers' lawyers argue they "were interested in unionising their own workplace". Rockstar's lawyers comment the company "has never sought to prevent a recognition request and now one has been made is engaging constructively with it". Regarding timing, they contend management didn't realise the extent of the "misconduct that was rife on that platform" until gaining direct access.
