Leslie Benzies | |
---|---|
Born | Leslie Peter Benzies 17 January 1971 Aberdeen, Scotland |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1995–present |
Children | 1 [1] |
Awards | AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2014) [2] |
Leslie Peter Benzies (born 17 January 1971) is a Scottish video game producer and the former president of Rockstar North, a subsidiary of Rockstar Games. He was the lead developer on the Grand Theft Auto series, taking responsibility from Grand Theft Auto III to Grand Theft Auto V (including Grand Theft Auto Online ). Benzies left Rockstar in 2016, and was in a lawsuit with its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, over unpaid royalties from April 2016 to February 2019.
Benzies was born in Aberdeen but moved to Elgin when he was young. When Benzies was 11, his father Leonard purchased a Dragon 32 computer. Benzies taught himself how to program and wrote his first game. [3]
Benzies' professional career as a video game programmer began in 1995 at DMA Design (now Rockstar North), where he was team lead developing the Nintendo 64 video game Space Station Silicon Valley . This game was released in October 1998, after which he started assembling the team that would create Grand Theft Auto III .
In 2005, he and Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games, received a BAFTA Special Award. [4]
In June 2014, he announced a deal to purchase the St Stephen's Church in Stockbridge, Edinburgh for a little over £500,000. [5] He plans to preserve the building and create a trust composed of members of the community to manage it. [6]
Benzies took sabbatical leave from Rockstar on 1 September 2014. In January 2016 it was announced that he had left the company. [7] Benzies later claimed that he was persuaded to take the sabbatical, during which his son and several of his friends were fired from the company and his email access was suspended; when he attempted to return to work, he was ordered to leave by the office manager and says that the company made "scurrilous allegations" about his actions at work. [1] On 12 April 2016, Benzies started legal action against Rockstar Games and its parent Take-Two Interactive claiming $150 million in unpaid royalties. [1]
In January 2017, he set up five new companies including Royal Circus Games which intends to develop games for consoles, PCs and mobile devices. [8]
On 29 March 2018, Benzies' litigation against Rockstar and Take-Two suffered a significant setback when the companies succeeded in dismissing 12 out of 18 of his claims, though the court did rule that Benzies "remains entitled to receive certain royalties" as part of his compensation. [9] [10] [11]
On 1 October 2018, it was announced that Benzies' new company was called Build a Rocket Boy Games. [12] The company has raised £32 million from investors in China and New York for its upcoming game Everywhere. [13]
On 7 February 2019, Benzies' litigation with Take-Two ended with a confidential settlement. [14] [15]
Year | Game title | Role |
---|---|---|
1998 | Space Station Silicon Valley | Lead programmer [16] |
2001 | Grand Theft Auto III | Producer [17] |
2002 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | Producer [18] |
2003 | Manhunt | Producer, development director |
2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Producer |
2005 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | Producer |
2006 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories | Producer |
2007 | Manhunt 2 | Producer |
2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Producer |
2009 | Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned | Producer |
2009 | Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | Producer |
2009 | Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony | Producer |
2010 | Red Dead Redemption | Executive producer, lead designer |
2011 | L.A. Noire | Executive producer |
2012 | Max Payne 3 | Executive producer |
2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Producer, game designer [19] |
2023 [20] | Everywhere | Designer, director |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, and the sixth instalment overall. Set in 1986 within the fictional Vice City, the single-player story follows mobster Tommy Vercetti's rise to power after being released from prison and becoming caught up in an ambushed drug deal. While seeking out those responsible, he gradually builds a criminal empire by seizing power from other criminal organisations in the city.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Founding members of the company were Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Dan and Sam Houser, and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Sam Houser heads the studio as president.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2, and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who, after being betrayed and left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge that leads him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas.
Rockstar Games UK Limited is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones, soon hiring former classmates Mike Dailly, Russell Kay, and Steve Hammond. During its early years, DMA Design was backed by its publisher Psygnosis, primarily focusing on Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64 games. During this time, they created successful shooters such as Menace and Blood Money, but soon turned to platform games after the release of Lemmings in 1991, which was an international success and led to several sequels and spin-offs. After developing Unirally for Nintendo, DMA Design was set to become one of their main second-party developers, but this partnership ended after Nintendo's disapproval of Body Harvest.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series and the first main entry since 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on California and Nevada, the game follows Carl "CJ" Johnson, who returns home after his mother's murder and finds his old friends and family in disarray. Over the course of the game, he attempts to re-establish his old gang, clashes with corrupt cops, and gradually unravels the truth behind his mother's murder.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by British development house Rockstar North, and published by its American parent company, Rockstar Games. The name of the series is a term for motor vehicle theft in the United States.
Rockstar Leeds Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Leeds. Ian J. Bowden, Dave Box, Gordon Hall, and Jason McGann founded the company as Möbius Entertainment in December 1997 after working together at the studio Hookstone. Möbius worked with SCi on two games: Alfred's Adventure, a remake of the Twilight-developed Alfred Chicken, and the cancelled Titanium Angels. From 2001 on, the studio created Game Boy Advance games for several publishers, including multiple for The 3DO Company and Max Payne for Rockstar Games.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a 2005 action-adventure game developed in a collaboration between Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, and published by Rockstar Games. The ninth installment in the Grand Theft Auto series, it was initially released as a PlayStation Portable exclusive in October 2005. A port for the PlayStation 2 was later released in June 2006. At the time of release, the recommended retail price of the PS2 port was around half the price of the PSP version, because the PS2 version does not feature the custom soundtrack ripping capability of the PSP version. Ports for iOS, Android and Fire OS devices were also released in December 2015, February 2016, and March 2016, respectively.
"Hot Coffee" is the unofficial name for a minigame in the 2004 action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas by Rockstar Games. While it was not playable in the official game release, the modding community discovered hidden code that, when enabled, allows protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson to have animated sexual intercourse with his in-game girlfriend.
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the eleventh instalment overall. Set in the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, which is based on New Jersey.
Sam Houser is an English video game producer who holds both British and American citizenship. He is a co-founder and the current president of Rockstar Games, and is one of the creative driving forces behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise, having been its producer since the third game. His brother Dan was Rockstar's vice president of creativity until 2020.
Daniel Houser is an English video game writer and producer who holds both British and American citizenship. He is a co-founder of Rockstar Games, where he served as the head writer and vice president of creativity until his resignation in 2020. His brother Sam is the president of Rockstar.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. The game was released for the Nintendo DS in March 2009, PlayStation Portable in October 2009, iOS in January 2010, and Android and Fire OS devices in December 2014. It is the thirteenth game in the Grand Theft Auto series and a follow-up to Grand Theft Auto IV, and is the first instalment to be released for handheld consoles since 2006's Vice City Stories. Set within modern-day Liberty City, the single-player story follows young Triad member Huang Lee and his efforts to recover a sword gifted by his late father after it is stolen from him, while inadvertently becoming caught in a power struggle amongst Liberty City's Triads.
Agent is an unreleased stealth action game under development by Rockstar North that was originally announced for the PlayStation 3. The game was planned to take place in a 1970s Cold War setting. Agent was teased in July 2007 and formally announced in June 2009. The trademark for the game's title was renewed in 2013 and 2017, and abandoned by November 2018.
Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fifteenth instalment overall. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists—retired bank robber Michael De Santa, street gangster Franklin Clinton, and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips, and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. Players freely roam San Andreas's open world countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.
A team of approximately 1,000 people developed Grand Theft Auto V over several years. Rockstar Games released the action-adventure game in September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in April 2015 for Windows, and in March 2022 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The first main Grand Theft Auto series entry since Grand Theft Auto IV, its development was led by Rockstar North's core 360-person team, who collaborated with several other international Rockstar studios. The team considered the game a spiritual successor to many of their previous projects like Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. After its unexpected announcement in 2011, the game was fervently promoted with press showings, cinematic trailers, viral marketing strategies and special editions. Its release date, though subject to several delays, was widely anticipated.
A team of approximately 1,000 people developed Red Dead Redemption over five years. Rockstar Games published the action-adventure game in May 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and in August 2023 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. A spiritual successor to the 2004 game Red Dead Revolver, its development was led by Rockstar San Diego's core 180-person team, who collaborated with Rockstar's Leeds, New England, North, and Toronto teams to assist development; Rockstar North, developer of the Grand Theft Auto series, consulted in the creation of the open world. After its announcement in 2009, the game was fervently promoted with press showings, cinematic trailers, and viral marketing strategies. Its release date, though subject to several delays, was widely anticipated. The working hours and managerial style of the studio during development was met with public complaints from staff members.
The Gamechangers is a 2015 British docudrama produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the story of the controversies caused by Grand Theft Auto, a successful video game series, as various attempts were made to halt the production of the games.
Everywhere is an upcoming video game developed by Build a Rocket Boy.