Ex Rockstar-North President Sueing Take Two

Update 1:

A statement from Rockstar regarding the issue was published.

“Leslie Benzies was a valued employee of our company for many years.  Sadly, the events that culminated in his resignation ultimately stem from his significant performance and conduct issues. Despite our repeated efforts to address and resolve these issues amicably both before and after his departure, Leslie has chosen to take this route in an attempt to set aside contract terms to which he previously agreed on multiple occasions. His claims are entirely without merit and in many instances downright bizarre, and we are very confident this matter will be resolved in our favor. A core ethos since Rockstar’s inception has been the concept of “the team”.  It is deeply disappointing and simply wrong for Leslie to attempt to take personal credit for what has always been the tremendous efforts of the entire Rockstar team, who remain hard at work delivering the most immersive and engaging entertainment experiences we can for our fans.”

We do not intend to comment further on this matter.”

Original Post:

Ex President of Rockstar-North, Leslie Benzies (the GTA studio) is suing Take-Two for $150 million dollars (about 105 million pounds).

This comes from allegations from Mr. Benzies that Take Two owes him for unpaid royalties. He left the studio in 2014 after threats from the company when he left for a sabbatical.

Reports came to light in, January that he had the left the company after a sabbatical started in 2014. But a statement from a partner at a law firm, Locke Lord LLP, Christopher Bakes which stated, “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 deceptions, according to Mr. Baker, include unpaid royalties worth over 150 million. The law suit cites the mounting resentments of Sam Houser, one of the Co-Founders of Rockstar games, which eventually led to which allegedly caused Benzies’ to be ousted with no compensation.

Source: Polygon