LONDON: Rockstar Games, the studio behind the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto VI, will appear in court in Glasgow from Thursday over the sacking of 31 workers.
Since the 1997 original, the gangster shooter "Grand Theft Auto" series has sold over 470 million copies worldwide.
The union bringing the case and Rockstar Games' lawyers said Monday the trial before the Glasgow employment court will run from September 10 to October 16.
It comes before the November 19 launch of the sixth instalment in the GTA series, which the company, a subsidiary of US giant Take-Two Interactive, is developing in Edinburgh.
Accused by the company of having shared confidential information, 31 employees were dismissed in Britain in October 2025, sparking protests outside the group's offices.
The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accuses Rockstar of targeting workers because of trade union activities and blacklisting them.
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It denied them "basic procedural protections by refusing to follow a disciplinary process or provide right of appeal", IWGB said in a statement.
According to the union, Rockstar Games -- which did not comment directly to AFP -- said the employees had been dismissed over messages posted on a private union channel on Discord, in violation of their confidentiality agreements.
"None of us imagined that talking to each other about our working conditions would turn our lives upside down and catapult us into the centre of a global media storm," said Jason Lewis, a former employee, in a statement shared by the IWGB.
"We lost our jobs, our income, our community and the chance to see the game through to release after spending years helping to build it. It was devastating."
The second best-selling game in the history of the industry, GTA VI features a couple of hoodlums, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, in a setting inspired by Florida.