The Strategist

Real-life GTA in Rockstar's office



04/14/2016 - 15:40



Leslie Benzies, former president of Rockstar North studio brought into the world a series of games Grand Theft Auto, is determined to seize $ 150 million from Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar. He is accusing his former colleagues in financial frauds, as a result of which he lost part of his income.



GameExplorer via youtube
GameExplorer via youtube
So far, the story has been developing in the best traditions of the GTA. According to recent information, Benzies took a creative reprieve on September 1, 2014, and then tried to return to his duties. However, he wasn’t even let into the office. January this year, media announced that he had officially ceased to be part of Rockstar.

It is not difficult to guess that Benzies is not much excited by this turn of events. He is accusing the Houser brothers, now heads of Rockstar, in that they have pushed him out of his company. Let us hope that the situation will not end with shooting.

Benzies’ lawyers said in a statement that he was not sitting idle and revealed a number of financial frauds in Rockstar. According to the former president of the studio, Dan and Sam Housers are fraudsters, who have been depriving him of the deserved income for a long period of time.

Benzies states that he was going to return to work on April 1, 2015. He, however, simply could not get into the office, as his pass was deactivated. It soon became clear that this is not an April Fool's joke: the guards let Leslie into the building, yet the company's managers still asked him to leave and not return.

As a result, Benzies, awarded in 2014 by the American Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) for his contribution to the gaming industry, is ready to meet with his former employers in court.

Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Company filed a counterclaim against Benzies, accusing the former president of Rockstar North in the "breach of contract". Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar claim that Benzies left the company without a reasonable excuse. In this regard, he has lost the right to receive any bonuses. "Leslie Benzies was a valuable employee of our company for many years. Despite our repeated attempts to settle differences peacefully, both before and after he left, Leslie decided to go his own way and disregarded the contract’s terms with which he had repeatedly agreed previously." - said Rockstar’s spokesman.

source: bbc.co.uk