ReportedUpdated 15 November 2026

Rockstar HR director questioned over Discord "mole" and firing timing at tribunal, Kotaku reports

Kotaku reported on October 9, 2026 that Rockstar Lincoln HR director Charlie Kinloch was questioned at a Glasgow tribunal about a junior employee who allegedly passed him union Discord screenshots, and about why Rockstar waited until October 2025 to act. This is testimony and allegation, not a ruling.

By GTA 6 Everything Editorial · 9 October 2026 · 2 min read

Charlie Kinloch, HR director and co-studio manager at Rockstar Lincoln, was questioned at a Glasgow employment tribunal about a Discord "mole" and the timing of the October 2025 firings, Kotaku reported on October 9, 2026. Nothing here is a ruling. It is testimony and the claims of both sides.

Kotaku said Rockstar's position is that it dismissed more than 30 staff in 2025 for gross misconduct, including leaking sensitive information about the game's development. The fired developers say Rockstar wanted to keep the UK trade union IWGB from gaining a foothold. One claim in the case, Kotaku reported, is that a junior employee known by the alias "AB" passed Kinloch screenshots of union activity on a Discord server for over two years.

The fired developers contend that the information showed the group was 12 members, or 10 percent of the workforce, short of the threshold for a recognised union. Kotaku reported that Kinloch said he had no interest in or knowledge of their union status and cared only about the risk of leaks.

Asked why Rockstar waited until October 2025 to act, Kinloch said the business had been "on the cusp" of a significant announcement about its next project, and that remarks about working hours and crunch looked far more sensitive in that light. He also said the Discord's membership had been growing at an exponential rate, with many new names Rockstar could not identify. Kotaku noted that days after the firings, Rockstar announced GTA 6's delay from May 2026 to November 2026, which prompted speculation about a link. Kotaku did not report evidence of one.

Kotaku said Rockstar maintains that AB shared information of their own volition, and that AB is not among the witnesses who can be questioned. The fired developers' lawyer argued that this should support an inference that Rockstar rewarded AB and others with time off in lieu for spying on colleagues. The two sides also give conflicting accounts of how secure the server was. Kotaku said the hearing would continue the following week.

Since then, a union recognition vote for Rockstar's UK staff has been set for November 12 to 26, 2026.