GTA 6 maker Rockstar North’s HQ sealed off after it’s rocked by ‘explosion’

Firefighters have been called to the offices of Rockstar Games in Edinburgh after an ‘explosion in a boiler room’ caused structural damage.

There may now be another reason to delay GTA 6, as the offices of Rockstar North in Edinburgh have received ‘structural damage’ from a major explosion.

It’s not believed anyone has been injured by the explosion and fire crews left the scene at 9.21am, after being called at 5.02am on Monday, January 19.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reported a boiler explosion as the most likely cause of incident, according to report by The Herald. What caused it to explode and how much damage has been done to the building is currently unclear.

It doesn’t bear thinking what would have happened if the explosion had occurred during working hour, as the timing of the event may well have saved lives.

Although there’s so far no suggestion of anything untoward, in terms of the cause of the explosion, the offices of Rockstar North have been the setting of ongoing protests over the last several months.

Rockstar fired over 30 employees for allegedly communicating company secrets to outside parties but immediately faced accusations of union-busting.

The issue was serious enough for questions to be asked in Parliament and for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to comment on the situation, with a court case currently ongoing.

That case has already revealed at least one previously unknown detail about the game, but otherwise there have been very few leaks regarding GTA 6 at all in recent years. Although Rockstar has claimed that accurate information is out there – lost amongst the sea of fake information.

GTA 6 is set to be the most successful video game launch of all-time, when it’s finally released on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

That will be over 13 years since the release of GTA 5, but Rockstar has had no need to release a new game before now, given the ongoing success of GTA Online, which brings in far more money than the sales of the game alone.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise dates back to 1997, when it was created by Dave Jones and Mike Dailly at what was originally called DMA Design. The studio changed its name to Rockstar North when it was acquired by Take-Two, but primary development of the Grand Theft Auto series has always remained there.

Take-Two own several other development studios under the Rockstar Games brand though and they all contribute to GTA 6 and other titles such as Red Dead Redemption.

The wait for GTA 6 has been especially harsh for fans as it has already suffered two high profile delays and many fans are worried that it may not hit its November release date, especially after reports that it is not yet ‘content complete’.

Nevertheless, one fan has been allowed to play the game ahead of time, after his familiar approached Rockstar Games and explained that he has terminal cancer.

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