Court filings submitted during the employment tribunal hearing that opened September 10, reported by GTA BOOM and Dexerto on the same day, include a passage from Rockstar's own documents. It reads: 'Other Claimants in Room C were candidly referencing game features – one of the most closely guarded secrets of the company. Two discussed an online 32 player format which was highly confidential at that time.' Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar's Head of Publishing, described seeing workers share details about the online player numbers as 'extraordinarily alarming' in a witness statement submitted for the hearing.
The 32-player figure first became public in January 2026, when People Make Games reviewed Discord messages in preliminary tribunal documents, per GTA BOOM. The September filings use notably stronger language about how sensitive the matter was inside Rockstar. Whether 32 players reflects a finalized specification, a figure from a particular development phase, or something since revised is not answerable from the court record. Rockstar has never addressed GTA 6 Online's player count in any public statement.
The broader case turns on whether the 31 workers were fired for gross misconduct, sharing confidential company information as Rockstar contends, or for union activity as the IWGB alleges. The tribunal runs through October 16. GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. When GTA 6 Online will follow has not been announced.