On the surface, everything seems set for one of the biggest launches in video game history. But behind the scenes, the development of GTA 6 takes place in a climate of distrust and tension. After a first wave of layoffs in Edinburgh at the end of 2025, Rockstar has just announced that it has fired several other developers through its various studios around the world, due to new gameplay leaks.
Officially, this would not be a reprisal against union movements. Yet, suspicions persistespecially since the studio remains opaque on its dismissal criteria.
A series of leaks that triggers the purge
The first GTA 6 gameplay leaks had already taken place in 2022, causing a huge earthquake in the industry. But since the beginning of 2026, the situation seems to have worsened. According to Rockstar Intel, several recent incidents of internal leaks would have pushed management to fire new developersin different offices: in the United States, in India, and in the Lincoln studio in the United Kingdom.
These decisions are in addition to redundancies already made in Edinburghwhere around thirty employees claimed to have been pressured to curb their union actions. “In Edinburgh, around 30 employees accused Rockstar of hindering the union movement in the offices”. Management denies any link with unionism.
Rockstar counterattacks and justifies its decisions
In a statement sent to IGN, Rockstar would like to clarify its position. The studio insists that these dismissals are linked exclusively to serious violations of confidentiality rules, and not to social or union reasons.
“We regret that these layoffs were necessary; however, privacy is essential to everything Rockstar Games does. The global interest in our games is unrivaled. Even the smallest leak of information regarding our products and practices can cause significant commercial and creative damage — as we have seen in the past — and harm the experience of our loyal players and our dedicated team. There has never been any question of union membership. We have always had a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized disclosures of information — and we will always enforce it.”
A deleterious climate as the release approaches
Scheduled for November 19, 2026, GTA 6 promises to be the absolute blockbuster of the decade. The second trailer has broken viewership records and the excitement continues unabated. But inside the studio itself, the pressure would be at its peak.
Anonymous testimonies speak of a tense environment, increased surveillance, and declining morale among production teams. Several experts believe that the pace of work intensifiesespecially since the media coverage of the leaks, which could affect development or delay certain final stages. For Rockstar, the challenge is twofold: protect the image of a cult game even before its releasewhile maintaining the commitment and well-being of its employees.