Pixel P&L: Explosion Rocks GTA 6 Development Studio

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 5 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• Rockstar North's Edinburgh studio survived a boiler explosion that triggered emergency response, but operations continue as GTA VI development stays on track.

• Gaming M&A surged 34% in Q4 2025, with 39 acquisitions as the industry shifted from blockbuster deals to strategic buys.

• Facepunch's director offered Amazon $25 million for New World after the struggling MMO was delisted ahead of its 2027 shutdown.

• Bungie's Marathon extraction shooter topped Steam's pre-order charts within hours of launch at $39.99.

• Nintendo's Osaka theme park celebrates five years of Super Nintendo World with a year-long anniversary event starting March 18.

Let's get into it.

Explosion at Rockstar North Studio Prompts Emergency Response

Rockstar North's Edinburgh headquarters remained operational after a boiler explosion triggered an emergency response early Monday morning.

Seven Scottish Fire and Rescue Service vehicles were dispatched to the Grand Theft Auto developer's Holyrood Road offices after an alarm sounded at 5:02 a.m., according to The Herald. Fire crews spent three hours securing structural damage before departing at 9:21 a.m. No casualties were reported.

"Early Monday morning, there was a malfunction in one of the heating boilers at Rockstar North," a Rockstar spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz. "Everyone is well and our studio remains open and operational."

The spokesperson thanked emergency responders for their quick assessment of the situation.

Rockstar North is part of the development team behind the Grand Theft Auto series. The studio is currently working on Grand Theft Auto VI, scheduled to launch in November 2026 after two delays. The game is among the most anticipated releases in the gaming industry.

Gaming Deals Rise 34% as Industry Pursues Targeted Acquisitions

Gaming companies completed 39 acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 34% increase from the previous year, as the industry moved away from blockbuster deals toward smaller, strategic transactions, according to a report from Aream & Co.

Asian publishers drove much of the activity. South Korea's NCSoft paid $104 million for Berlin-based Indygo Group, while Kakao Games acquired Kakao VX for $114 million. Chinese tech company SUD bought the Cocos game engine for $72 million, reflecting continued interest in development tools.

The quarter's capital markets activity totaled $1.7 billion, led by Tencent's $1.25 billion investment in French publisher Ubisoft. Swedish game developer Coffee Stain’s IPO with a market value of roughly $600 million also contributed to the figure.

Venture capital funding rebounded to $900 million across 102 deals, up 29% from 2024, the report found. Investors focused on gaming technology, particularly artificial intelligence applications, and Turkey's mobile gaming market.

Consumer spending stayed resilient. PC game revenue on Steam grew 20% from the previous year, helped by titles like Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders while console sales rose 13%, supported by Nintendo's Switch 2 launch.

⚡️Quick Bytes

Nintendo's Osaka Theme Park to Celebrate Fifth Anniversary

Nintendo's Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan will mark its fifth anniversary with special decorations, merchandise and activities from March 18, 2026, through January 11, 2027. The Osaka park, which opened March 18, 2021, will feature a star-covered anniversary cake at its entrance and host a Star Hunt activity with costumed characters. Visitors will meet Yoshi for the first time at designated areas.The park expanded with Donkey Kong Country in December 2024, adding a mine cart-themed rollercoaster. Similar Nintendo parks now operate in Los Angeles and Florida, with Singapore planned next.

Rust Developer Offers $25 Million for Amazon's Struggling New World MMO

Facepunch Studios director Alistair McFarlane has offered Amazon $25 million to acquire New World, the struggling MMO scheduled to shut down in January 2027. Amazon delisted New World: Aeternum from all storefronts this week after the game failed to retain players following its 2021 launch, which peaked near one million concurrent Steam users. McFarlane suggested Amazon "empower the community" by making servers publicly hostable, arguing "games should never die." Palworld's communications director and Hytale creator Simon Collins-Laflamme, who previously bought back his game from Riot Games, expressed support for the bid.

Bungie's Marathon Tops Steam Pre-Order Charts Hours After Launch

Bungie's Marathon climbed to the top of Steam's pre-order revenue charts within hours of becoming available Monday, priced at $39.99 for its base edition. The extraction shooter leads competitors including Warframe and Where Winds Meet, though Arc Raiders currently holds the overall top spot.

⚔️Side Quest

🤣Laugh:

📺 Watch: Gabe Newell's 2011 piracy lecture should be required viewing for every gaming executive. His argument (that piracy is a service problem, not a pricing problem) predicted the industry's future. Watch Valve's founder dismantle DRM logic with Russian market data, proving that accessibility beats restrictions. Even though it has been fifteen years, it is still the sharpest take on why Steam won and became the multi-billion dollar giant it is today.

🎮 Play: Chrono Ark looks like another deck-building roguelike until it clicks, then nothing else compares. The time loop premise feels familiar, the difficulty is brutal, but the character builds have ridiculous depth. Each character gets unique cards that enable wildly different strategies. If Slay the Spire or Inscryption burned you out, this will pull you back in. Just push past the first few confusing runs.

📚 Read: Daniel Suarez's Daemon and Freedom were what I grabbed to cut down on screentime this last month, and they still work. These 2009-2010 techno-thrillers about an AI uprising feel weirdly prophetic now; Suarez wrote about autonomous systems, algorithmic control, and networked resistance before any of it made headlines. Good fiction that reads like a news cycle, and a solid reason to put your phone down.

💡Did You Know

A Chinese tech YouTuber named 小宁子 XNZ built a working console that combines a PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2 into one device. The "Ningtendo PXBOX 5" strips down all three systems to their core components, running them on a single 250W power supply and shared cooling fan. A button on top switches between consoles in three seconds. The build required a custom 3D-printed case for the Switch 2's dock to maintain handheld functionality. Both the PS5 and Xbox are digital-only due to space constraints, but the creator can now access every game across all platforms without swapping cables.

📜 Quote of the Day

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