Sacked Grand Theft Auto worker claims Rockstar staff placed on 'watch list' - BBC

A worker dismissed by the makers of Grand Theft Auto claimed colleagues were placed on a "watch list" after signing a petition about remote working.

Dayne Oram told an employment tribunal Rockstar North "kept an eye" on a small group of employees who were union members after the petition was handed to the company in the spring of 2023.

Oram was among a number of employees claiming to have been sacked by the gaming giant for attempting to unionise in October last year.

Rockstar has denied those allegations at the employment tribunal in Glasgow and alleges workers were sacked for "gross misconduct" following the sharing of confidential information in an online forum.

Some 34 workers were believed to have been sacked last year, with 23 taking part in the employment tribunal.

Most of the sacked staff were based at the company's Edinburgh headquarters, with others based in Canada.

Oram, who is among workers being represented at the hearing by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), gave evidence on the first day of the tribunal.

About 150 Rockstar employees had signed the petition about working from home, but between 15 and 20 of them were union members.

Lawyers for Rockstar said there was nothing in the signatures that could identify them as union members, but Oram told the tribunal it could be "inferred" who was by those who handed in the petition.

Thomas Cordrey, representing Rockstar, asked Oram how there could be a connection between the company having the list of names in February 2023 and the dismissals in October 2025 when there was a gap of two years and eight months between the events.

Oram said it was "not the sole reason" for their dismissal, but claimed the sacking was connected to other union organising activities.

Oram added the petition was used as "the basis of a watch list" for people carrying out "activities that were considered distasteful".

The tribunal also heard Oram was involved in setting up a Discord server that was used as a forum where around 300 Rockstar employees could discuss the company.

Cordrey read rules from the forum, which asked members to be "professional and constructive".

However, he put it to Oram that this was "routinely broken".

Oram said the rule was "more of a guiding principle" and that one comment referring to a specific manager had been removed because it concerned an individual.

Cordrey also asked whether Oram believed another post, where someone was described in a highly derogatory way, amounted to gross misconduct.

Oram said that was "misconduct" but denied it crossed the threshold into gross misconduct.

Oram added: "If I had to remake some of the moderation decisions, probably I would make them differently now."

Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to break sales records when it is released on 19 November.

It was previously delayed twice, in autumn 2025 and May 2026.

Pre-orders of the game - which features the series' first female playable character, Lucia and her partner Jason, as the main protagonists - are already thought to have been worth hundreds of millions.

The last installment of the franchise, Grand Theft Auto 5, was released in September 2013 and became one of the best-selling games of all time.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Rockstar Games' position has been clear and consistent throughout.

"Individuals across the UK and Canada were dismissed for gross misconduct following the sharing of confidential company information, not because of alleged trade union membership or activity.

"We reject the claims and will defend them vigorously before the tribunal."

The tribunal, before judge Lucy Wiseman, continues.