Emergency services responded to the Edinburgh HQ of Rockstar North early Monday morning following a boiler room incident that reportedly resulted in structural damage to the building. The company has since announced it is “open and operational,” good news for fans of the hotly anticipated game Grand Theft Auto 6.
IGN reports that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed seven emergency vehicles to the Rockstar North office building located in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 5:02 a.m. local time on Monday, January 19. The response came after what local media outlet Edinburgh Live characterized as an explosion occurring in a boiler room within the facility.
According to a statement from a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson, Operations Control dispatched three fire appliances along with specialist resources to address the situation. Firefighters worked at the scene to secure structural damage at the commercial building. The emergency response lasted over four hours, with crews departing the location at 9:21 a.m. Officials confirmed that no casualties were reported during the incident.
The company released a statement on the incident as well, stating it remains “open and operational:” “Early Monday morning, there was a malfunction in one of the heating boilers at Rockstar North. Many thanks to those that reached out with concern, and also to the police and fire crews who were on scene quickly to assess the situation – please know that everyone is well and our studio remains open and operational.”
The affected building serves as the headquarters for Rockstar North, the primary development studio behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The Edinburgh facility has functioned as the central hub for Rockstar Games operations, housing the development teams responsible for creating every major installment in both the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series.
Currently, the studio is in the final stages of developing Grand Theft Auto 6, one of the most highly anticipated video game releases in recent years. The game has already experienced two delays and is presently scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026. At this time, it remains unclear whether the structural damage and subsequent closure of the office will have any impact on the development timeline or release date of GTA 6.
In recent months, tensions have escalated between Rockstar Games management and some of its employees. The studio has faced demonstrations outside its Edinburgh office following the termination of several workers. The laid-off employees and their supporters have alleged that the dismissals were connected to union membership activities. Rockstar Games has strongly rejected these allegations, denying any connection between the layoffs and union involvement.
Breitbart News reported that the company recently banned player-made modes that recreated the assassination of Charlie Kirk:
The name change is part of the company’s move to prevent its players from bringing real-world atrocities — such as Kirk’s assassination — into the game.
Shortly after a new feature debuted in December that allows GTA Online players to create and publish their own “missions” for other users, some of the published assignments reportedly involved assassinating the Turning Point USA founder.
One mission, titled, “We are Charlie Kirk,” prompted a player to shoot a character named Charlie Kirk with a sniper rifle from a rooftop that overlooked a grassy scene similar to the Utah Valley University courtyard where the free speech martyr was assassinated on September 10.
Read more at IGN here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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