Leslie Benzies (GTA Big Wig) sues TT for $150M in unpaid royalties, ousted by Housers
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Man, this news seriously bums me out. I love Rockstar Games, and Red Dead 3 is one of my most anticipated games -- despite not being formally announced yet. This lawsuit and the, albeit understandable, focus on GTA Online instead of single player DLC has me pretty apprehensive for their future
IF that stuff is true, those Houser fellas are a couple of low grade scum fucks
Starting to remind me of Valve. Pretty depressing considering GTA is my favorite series.
Man, the number of responsibilities and sheer amount of work Benzies allegedly put into the GTA games is staggering.
Pretty worrisome as someone who enjoys their games...wonder if they really thought this through before totally fucking him over.
Baron_Calamity
Member
A part of me is giddy at the prospect of behind the scenes drama but the other part is sad that we might have seen the last of the great Rockstar games.
Dreams-Visions
Member
R* about to get fucked.
Boy Wander
Member
Housers sound like a proper pair of cocks. Money and fame has gone to their heads.
Brendan Sinclair from Gamesindustry.biz is tweeting details from the lawsuit.
https://twitter.com/BrendanSinclair/status/719927316466561024
This fiasco is also the reason the Midnight Club franchise is dead. SD moved all of the MC team to RDR to help get it out the door, and then fired the design leads.
Ouch, they are fucked
dave is ok
aztek is ok
Yeah, it looks like they probably violated the Sabbatical Agreement at a minimum
BrassDragon
Member
Hang on, this is SOP at Rockstar..?
BibiMaghoo
Member
Because the amounts of money are life changing for generations of family and friends. A golden ticket like this number people would do a lot to have, and the same to keep.
Mac the KNife
Member
Dang.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
It sounds like Benzies was the driving force behind alot of Rockstars successes.
Damn. End of an era indeed.
Damn. End of an era indeed.
Pathfinder
Member
To be fair, I'm sure the Housers have a side in this as well. We're only hearing Leslie's side right now. Maybe he did something to deserve all this and it will come out during the trial.
Goose_Se7en
Banned
I don't wanna just dump on the Housers but if this true then this is a damn shame.
I never knew who "Leslie Benzies" was at the beginning but I do remember his name distintively on the GTA games featured very prominently and rightfully so, then I found out what he did and how important to the franchise he was.
Damn shame if true, the GTA games exemplify everything great about video games IMHO.
But if you think about it, something had to give. Can you imagine being the developer that makes the GTA games? It isn't an automatic homerun internally. For us, consumers, sure we expect and get a great game every time, every single time.
But just imagine being the studio that has to deliver that experience over and over again. It can't be easy to have that pressure to deliver, at this point R* doesn't have any competition and their competing against their previous efforts.
I never knew who "Leslie Benzies" was at the beginning but I do remember his name distintively on the GTA games featured very prominently and rightfully so, then I found out what he did and how important to the franchise he was.
Damn shame if true, the GTA games exemplify everything great about video games IMHO.
But if you think about it, something had to give. Can you imagine being the developer that makes the GTA games? It isn't an automatic homerun internally. For us, consumers, sure we expect and get a great game every time, every single time.
But just imagine being the studio that has to deliver that experience over and over again. It can't be easy to have that pressure to deliver, at this point R* doesn't have any competition and their competing against their previous efforts.
Obliterator
Member
Man this stuff coming out does indeed paint the Housers in an AWFUL light. It's hard to say for certain without hearing their side of the story but dear lord if this is all true
Boy Wander
Member
It doesn't matter what he did. There are ways to go about getting a contract annulled and they involve money. You can't just rip up a legally binding agreement unless there is a specific reason, documented in the contract, to do so. Sounds to me like they've tried to avoid their obligations and get rid of him on the sly and he's having none of it.
"Partners for real!!"
Whoops, you're secret-fired, bro-beans.
What the hell, I would never trust emails as phony sounding as that. Sam Houser sounds socially inept.
Sure but i don't think that you go against somebody this powerful if you don;t have proof.
Really seems like money sent Sam Houser (and maybe Dan) into some sort of blind rage.
It's hard to imagine he thought this through if the accusations from Benzies' side are even remotely true. Not only is this historically bad PR, but they've lost someone who was essential to their success. Someone who was apparently willing to come back to work. Da fuck are they thinking?
It's hard to imagine he thought this through if the accusations from Benzies' side are even remotely true. Not only is this historically bad PR, but they've lost someone who was essential to their success. Someone who was apparently willing to come back to work. Da fuck are they thinking?
They went "full-retard" and laid out their side in a counter-complaint.
Basically they say that Benzies forfeited his rights to any royalties by quitting.
Pathfinder
Member
That's certainly what it sounds like. If that's really how it went down, then they're pretty fucked.
D
Deleted member 471617
Unconfirmed Member
Maybe im way off here but if anything, it seems like Dan and Sam Houser should be given the boot out the door and Leslie Benzies stays because it seems like he's worth far more to Rockstar Games than both Dan and Sam combined.
BiGBoSSMk23
A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
With great money comes big douchebaggery.
Videogames have become Hollywood.
Videogames have become Hollywood.
FloweryMarston
Member
reading the lawsuit makes my head dizzy, the housers absolutely fucked over their friend over money. What the fuck. The lawsuit also paints a very damning future for rockstar, if the claims about the housers lack of skill to manage their teams like benzies had.
this is honestly one, if not the biggest disappointment i had with videogames regarding the developers.
this is honestly one, if not the biggest disappointment i had with videogames regarding the developers.
ItWillGetBetter
Banned
The Benz. I like that. But woah....this whole thing is NUTS. The Housers DO NOT sound innocent.
Truly shocked. Benz has done a fantastic job in helping Rockstar shape up to what it is today. Completely and utterly disappointed at the Housers with their greed. Terminating the mastermind behind Rockstar, and now I can almost say Rockstar's quality in games will go down hill from now. Good luck to Benzies on winning this lawsuit and a another place in the industry. With his talent and knowledge, he can definitely create a powerful team and continue to make awesome games.
#TeamBenz
#TeamBenz
Pathfinder
Member
That would be better suited for the hypothetically upcoming Red Dead 3 OT.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Wow, it would be a miracle if Rockstar's output comes out of this unscathed. Benzies was a huge part of their success. Also maybe explains why we've never gotten any singleplayer DLC and why Rockstar's been in a holding pattern for like 2 1/2 years aside from GTAO content drops.
Green Yoshi
Member
I think that has other reasons:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Rock...Diego_employees_have_collected_themselves.php
RDR was probably the last game of the studio.
I'm not. The two of them have always been really shady. I like quite a few of their games, but it's hard to admire them as developers.
Porygon has come through with breaking news on this story: https://twitter.com/PorygonNews/status/719975736228982784
Porygon has come through with breaking news on this story: https://twitter.com/PorygonNews/status/719975736228982784
This would be incredible if true. Too bad it's a parody account
