Rockstar North Boss/ lead developer for GTA Leslie Benzies leaves R* after 20 years

[Jon2_Kill155]

http://kotaku.com/rockstar-north-bos...rly-1752495562

The man in charge of the regional Rockstar studio long credited with handling the bulk of development for the Grand Theft Auto games is no longer at the company, Rockstar confirmed to Kotaku today. The company said Rockstar North studio head Leslie Benzies had been on sabbatical for the past 17 months.

Rockstar North has had a less GTA-centric role in the past decade, as they and other regional Rockstar studios have been credited with sharing the work on the company’s major games, including the seemingly all-hands-on-deck 2013 GTA V.

But Benzies’ large team in the Scotland-based Rockstar North had been seen as major players for the past two decades in the creation of numerous Rockstar hits over the years, including the GTA releases, the first Manhunt and Red Dead Redemption. As recently as 2014, Benzies was named, along with Rockstar co-founders Sam and Dan Houser as an entrant into the Academy of Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.

Rockstar North is continuing along, but Benzies won’t be helming it.

I’d heard Benzies was leaving Rockstar more than a year ago, but when I asked the company about it at the time, they told me he was on a sabbatical following the launch of Grand Theft Auto V. Given how big that game was, that made sense!

R* Statement:

We can confirm that Leslie Benzies went on sabbatical on September 1, 2014 and has decided not to return to work for the company. We are very grateful for Leslie’s contributions to Rockstar over the last 15 years as we worked together to make some amazing games.

Leslie helped us build an incredible team that will continue to create great experiences for our fans. Leslie will always be a friend to the company and of course we are going to miss him but we wish him the absolute best for the future.

Holy shit this big!!! Good luck to him, he helped make the biggest Game Franchise and is a big contribution to the industry. Multi-Millionaire set for life!

[Jon2_Kill155]

Now we know why he left but it not for a good reason. Holy Shit. (WARNING: LOTS OF TEXT BELOW)

Leslie Benzies sues Take 2/R* for $150M in unpaid royalties, ousted by Housers

http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/12/114...wo-interactive

Leslie Benzies, former president of Rockstar North and one of the lead producers on the Grand Theft Auto games, is suing Take-Two Interactive for $150 million in unpaid royalties, alleging that the company tried to force him out after he took a sabbatical.

Reports that Benzies had left the company emerged in January, following a sabbatical that began in September 2014. But according to a statement provided by Christopher Bakes, partner at the law firm Locke Lorde LLP, "while on sabbatical, Mr. Benzies discovered numerous deceptions on the part of Take-Two, Rockstar, Rockstar North Ltd, Sam Houser and Dan Houser, who sought to force him out of the company and terminate his portion of royalty payments based upon arbitrary actions by the company's royalty Allocation Committee, a committee that may or may not have actually ever met."

These alleged deceptions, according to Bakes, include unpaid royalties worth over $150 million. The lawsuit specifically cites the "mounting resentments" of Sam Houser, one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games, which allegedly led to Benzies' denial of compensation and eventual ousting.

In 2008, Benzies, along with Sam Houser and Dan Houser, entered a long-term agreement with Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar North after years at the company. They signed that contract alongside Take-Two's introduction of an "incentive compensation program" that was based on profit sharing, according to a press release. In the statement detailing his legal complaint, Benzies' contract with and payment from Take-Two was said to be identical to that of the Housers until his departure.

''I can confirm that Leslie Benzies went on sabbatical in September of 2014," Zelnick said, according to a transcript of the call. "He's decided not to return to Rockstar Games." Zelnick went on to say he could not comment further on Benzies' future plans.

Benzies tells it differently. In the statement about the lawsuit, he claims to have attempted to return to work on April 1, 2015, only to find that his key had been deactiviated.

"After being let inside by building security, Mr. Benzies was then ordered to leave by the Rockstar North office manager without reason," according to the statement.

Benzies Lawsuit Document (71 pages):

https://www.scribd.com/doc/308200451/Benzies-v-Rockstar

Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games Fires Back with counter-suit

Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games have filed a counter-suit against Benzies, citing a "breach of contract." In a document obtained from the United States District Court, the plaintiffs claim that Benzies officially left the company on April 2, 2015.

The company disputes Benzies' reason for terminating his employment, according to the documents; Take-Two Interactive claims that Benzies left the company without "Good Reason," thus excluding him from collecting the pre- and post-termination royalties otherwise promised in Take-Two's compensation plan.

"Benzies, however, continues to demand parity with respect to pre-termination royalty payments and post-termination royalty payments," Take-Two claims in the document. "The parties to this action have sought unsuccessfully to resolve this issue through mediation and now seek judicial clarification that would resolve this controversy."

Take-Two Interactive counter-suit document:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/308199651...LESLIE-BENZIES

Details from the lawsuit



https://twitter.com/BrendanSinclair/...27316466561024

It seems that development on RDR was a nightmare under the Housers Brothers and they were begging Benzies to help them. If it wasn't for Benzies coming in we will have never got Red Dead Redemption it seems. Jesus H Christ...

In 2014, the Housers forced an abrupt and unannounced end to Mr. Benzies’ profit-sharing payments, without notice or warning, and without reference to exactly where they or the companies obtained this authority. Mr. Benzies received only a simple message from an executive vice-president at Rockstar: “Sam thinks you’ve had enough.”

Denial of Royalties, Attempted Return, and Ouster
73.

It soon became clear to Mr. Benzies that the “sabbatical” was actually an expulsion – the commencement of Defendants’ campaign to oust Mr. Benzies. By September 2014, Sam Houser had ceased all communications with Mr. Benzies. Mr. Benzies’ company Blackberry was remotely disabled without notice and his company email account was locked, over Mr. Benzies’ objections. Mr. Benzies requested access to the account during the sabbatical, which was wholly rejected.

74.

During Mr. Benzies’ sabbatical, Sam Houser terminated or forced-out some of Mr. Benzies’ key support staff. Mr. Benzies was not consulted about those decisions or any other business decisions during his sabbatical.

75.

During the sabbatical, Mr. Benzies had infrequent contact with Rockstar through Ms. Kolbe. He was not allowed to speak with any other colleagues at Rockstar, and was not allowed access to any data. Long-time colleague Andy Semple refused to meet with him. Mr. Benzies was now completely cut-off, including from colleagues he had worked with for up to twenty years.

76.

While Mr. Benzies was on his sabbatical and through the date of this Complaint, Sam Houser and Dan Houser (through the “Allocation Committee” comprised of the Housers, and one Take-Two representative) awarded themselves at least $93,000,000 in profit sharing distributions derived from the exploitation of GTA 5, and potentially as much as $523,000,000. During that period, Sam Houser awarded Mr. Benzies no shared profits, a violation of the 2009 Royalty Plan, his own fiduciary duty to Mr. Benzies, and the long-standing actual practice of treating the Rockstar Principals identically with respect to royalties. Mr. Benzies also failed to receive quarterly reports describing the “royalty pool” (as was his contractual right, and Take-Two’s contractual obligation, under the 2009 Royalty Plan), until March 2015. He received no notice that any Plan profit shares were distributed to his fellow Rockstar Principals.

More i read more i think how bad are Housers are holy fuck...

81.

As neither Take-Two nor Rockstar had issued any notice of termination or discharge, Mr. Benzies began preparing to resume his duties in anticipation of his April 1, 2015 return to work. He requested that his email access be restored, that meetings with the other Rockstar Principals and key Take-Two executives be scheduled, and that he receive status reports on certain employees, particularly those who left while he was on sabbatical.

82.

Instead of facilitating responses to these requests, and inconsistent with Mr. Benzies’ Sabbatical Agreement’s specific ending date of April 1, 2015, Ms. Kolbe and Sam Houser traveled to Edinburgh to purportedly survey Rockstar North employees about Mr. Benzies’ return. On information and belief, Ms. Kolbe and Sam Houser used the “survey” to make statements to Rockstar North managers and employees (and attempted to elicit statements from those managers and employees) intended to undercut and complicate Mr. Benzies’ ability to return to Rockstar North.

They had such a good thing going after all those years, just to suddenly kick him out? Over money? Greed is the fucking devil man what a mess this is.

If everything in this lawsuit is true then i have lost all my respect for the Housers Bothers.

And from the sounds of these documents he's the real project manager of Rockstar's games and not the Housers...

I guess this explains why we haven't gotten singleplayer DLC for GTAV though, Benzies was the one that managed to get the DLC for GTA IV out.

Man the next R*Game/GTA is going to be very interesting now that the brain of the franchise is not in the company anymore.

If you guys don't know who Leslie Benzies is hare is has wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie...o_game_credits