Fire crews called to Rockstar North building after a reported ‘explosion in a boiler room’
No casualties are reported as the GTA studio’s main Edinburgh building suffered structural damage
Fire crews were called to the headquarters of Rockstar North this morning after a reported explosion in the early hours.
Around seven Scottish Fire and Rescue Service vehicles were called to the Grand Theft Auto studio’s Edinburgh office in Holyrood Road after an alarm was raised after 5am, The Herald reports.
Although an official explanation for the explosion has yet to be confirmed, reports suggest it was an “explosion in a boiler room”.
Nobody was hurt in the aftermath of the explosion, presumably because the incident took place so early in the morning.
“We were alerted at 5.02am on Monday, 19 January to attend an incident on Holyrood Road, Edinburgh,” a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson told the publication.
“Operations Control mobilised three fire appliances and specialist resources to the scene, where firefighters worked to secure structural damage at a commercial building. There were no reported casualties and crews left the scene at 9.21am.”
Rockstar North is the main studio in charge of Rockstar‘s Grand Theft Auto series, and is currently at work on the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, which has been delayed multiple times. It is not yet known whether today’s incident will have any impact on development.
The studio’s Edinburgh office has been subject to other drama in recent months, thanks to the company’s decision to fire more than 30 staff – the vast majority of whom were based in Edinburgh – resulting in numerous protests taking place outside the building.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) alleged that the employees were fired by the Take-Two company because they were part of an IWGB Game Workers Union channel on Discord and were either union members or attempting to organise a union at Rockstar.
Rockstar has denied the claim, saying the staff were let go because they “discussed highly confidential information, including relating to game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in an insecure and public social channel” which included “employees of competitor game developers, a video games industry journalist, as well as dozens of anonymous, unidentifiable members”.
