An explosion occurred on the premises of Rockstar North, Rockstar Games’ primary development studio for Grand Theft Auto 6, in Edinburgh. A representative for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service told The Herald that they were alerted to the incident at 5:02 AM GMT.
“Operations Control mobilized three fire appliances and specialist resources to the scene, where firefighters worked to secure structural damage at a commercial building.” Emergency crews reported no casualties and finally left at 9:21 AM.
Rockstar Games hasn’t issued a statement, and while the exact cause is not clear, reports from Edinburgh Live claim that the boiler room was the source of the explosion. We’ll have to wait for more details, but given the time that it occurred, it seems the offices were empty at the time.
Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Thus far, it’s suffered two major delays, the first from Fall 2025 to May 2026. There’s also the case of 34 employees fired from Rockstar, the majority of whom worked at Rockstar North, for allegedly leaking confidential information.
While the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) brought the case before an employment tribunal to obtain interim pay for the employees, the latter denied this request. Regardless, the union is keen on going ahead with the lawsuit.
On a completely different note, it seems that Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive helped a terminally ill fan play Grand Theft Auto 6 early. You can learn more about that here.
It’s concerning to hear about the explosion at Rockstar North. I hope everyone is safe and that the team can recover quickly from this incident. Wishing the best for all involved.
team can recover quickly. It’s impressive how resilient game development studios can be in the face of such challenges. Hopefully, this incident doesn’t impact the progress of GTA 6 too much!
Absolutely, resilience is key in the gaming industry. It’s interesting to see how these studios often come together and adapt after such incidents, ensuring that projects remain on track. I hope the team at Rockstar North has the support they need during this time.