Around dawn today, Monday 19 January 2026, a strong explosion to Edinburgh (Scotland) affected the offices of RockstarNorththe British software house that is developing Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA6), probably the most anticipated video game of history. Luckily they don’t register neither victims nor injuriesbut due to the explosion – which should have affected the room of boilers – the company offices will remain closed at least for today.
The extent of the costs is not currently known damageit is not even clear what actually happened and whether this could have an impact on launch of GTA6 (after the two previous postponements) expected on November 19 this year. What is certain is that the incident, as indicated by the BBC, catapulted i firefighters of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) at the building located in via Holyrood Road around 05:00 this morning. The intervention to make the structure safe lasted a few hours and the operators left approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes later.
A spokesperson for the SFSR told the Herald Scotland that the fire service had been involved with some means to secure the “structural damage” to the premises affected by the explosion and that the road was closed. “Operational Control mobilized three fire engines and specialist personnel to the site, where firefighters worked to secure structural damage to a commercial building. No casualties were reported and crews left the scene at 9.21am,” the spokesperson said.
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Holyrood Road is one of the most important streets of Edinburgh and connects the historic center with the institutional area of the city. Nearby are the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the king (or queen) in the United Kingdom when he is in Scotland; the Scottish Parliament Building (the Scottish parliament building) which, although not directly on the street, overlooks it; the modern complex of “The Tun” and other important buildings. Also for these reasons it was a delicate intervention in a strategic area of the Scottish capital.
Although there is no clear information on the dynamics of the incident, Edinburgh Live indicates “an explosion in a boiler room”, which led to the evacuation of the building where Rockstar North is based. The software house, which has been part of Rockstar Games since 1999, has not yet released statements either on the company’s official website or on social channels, therefore the extent of the damage it has suffered as a result of this incident is not known.
Many are wondering if this event could have an impact on the launch of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA6), as indicated the most anticipated video game ever after stratospheric success of GTA5 . According to authoritative sources, since its launch – which took place in 2013 – the title has grossed the astronomical figure of approximately 10 billion dollars. In addition to 215 million of copies sold, as indicated in the latest official data of Take Two (the publisher of the Rockstar series), what increased the bill were – and still are – above all the revenues of GTA Online. It’s no surprise that many fans are waiting “frantically” for GTA6.
The sixth chapter of the series, set in Vice City (a transposition of Miami) and surrounding area, has already been postponed twice generating a certain disappointment among the players. The initial launch window scheduled for fall 2025 was first moved to May 26, 2026 and subsequently to November 19th this year. Many analysts believe that the latter could be the definitive launch date, although a further postponement cannot be 100 percent ruled out in light of the size of the project. Now the news of the accident in the building where Rockstar North is based could make this hypothesis more concrete, even if, we reiterate, at the moment there is no news of damage caused to premises, computers, hard drives and other material for the development of the video game. It is easy to imagine that copies of the code are safe elsewhere (cloud), but it is clear that the destruction of work tools such as computers – and perhaps of ongoing updates – could lead to at least a slowdown in the launch road map, scheduled for the end of the year.
