Rockstar Games Gives Update on Fire at Edinburgh Office

Rockstar Games, the studio behind the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, has issued a statement after a small fire erupted at its Edinburgh headquarters today, confirming that no employees were injured and that the studio remains open and operational. While Rockstar Games has numerous offices scattered around the world, many of which will likely be hard at work contributing to the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, the studio’s Edinburgh office, known as Rockstar North, is the company’s main headquarters for new GTA games.

After fans have waited patiently for sixteen years now, all eyes are on Rockstar as gamers eagerly await the release of the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. However, this anticipation arrives during a particularly turbulent chapter for the studio as Rockstar ended 2025 by dismissing numerous employees for allegedly leaking details about Grand Theft Auto 6. It is claimed that the 30+ terminations are the result of staff allegedly having distributed and discussed confidential information, which included specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in a public forum. Although unrelated, this comes after a massive leak occured in September 2022 that saw nearly 100 pieces of footage from Grand Theft Auto 6 leak online after somebody outside of the studio gained access to Rockstar’s internal systems.

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Rockstar Games Remains Operational Following Small Fire

Rockstar’s bad luck seemed to continue today, January 19, as the studio’s Edinburgh office experienced a small fire from what was due to a “malfunction” in one of the building’s boiler rooms. Emergency services were called to the scene just after 5 AM GMT and left at around 9:21 AM GMT. Given that the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning, it was speculated that the building was likely empty. Now, in a new statement to BNO News, a spokesperson for Rockstar has confirmed that there were no injuries. “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,” an employee for Rockstar told the outlet. They then indicated that this would not affect the development of Grand Theft Auto 6, saying, “Please know that everyone is well and our studio remains open and operational.”

It remains unclear how much damage the fire did to the building, but it remains structurally intact as the working day seemed to go ahead as normal for Rockstar’s employees. A spokesperson for the emergency services also told BNO News, “Operations Control mobilised three fire appliances and specialist resources to the scene, where firefighters worked to secure structural damage at a commercial building.”

One fan will soon get to see the inside of Rockstar’s offices as the studio’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, reportedly set up an internal playtest that will allow a terminally ill fan to experience Grand Theft Auto 6 ahead of its official release later this year. A Ubisoft developer reached out to the studio after finding out that a close family member only has 6-12 months left to live and is a huge Grand Theft Auto fan and may not be around to see the next installment in the series. A follow-up post by the developer, which has since been deleted, states that the CEO of Take-Two reached out and that they received “great news.”

Rather unexpectedly, Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed multiple times already. The highly anticipated next entry was first scheduled to release in Fall 2025 following its reveal trailer in December 2023. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, this date was eventually pushed back to May 26, 2026. It didn’t take long for fans to then speculate on a potential second delay, which was then confirmed by Rockstar in November 2025. As of writing, Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026. However, as one of the most anticipated video games of all time, coupled with Rockstar’s constant desire for perfection, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see the title slip into 2027.