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[ashecitism]

courtesy of Nasty

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-04-12-grand-theft-auto-devs-planned-to-leave-take-two

"Leslie Benzies lawsuit says he and the Houser brothers set up an independent company that would still work on publisher's IP

The suit describes the formation of Another Game Company in 2009, originally a business entity consisting of Benzies and the Housers that was established with the help of Take-Two to handle distribution of royalty payments to the trio. However, the suit details another purpose to the company.

"AGC was created by the Rockstar Principals to allow them to be able to leave Take-Two, and collectively launch a new independent company, with favorable economic and IP-based rights stemming in large part from Take-Two and Rockstar. The Rockstar Principals would collectively enjoy royalty-free rights to use certain Rockstar and Take-Two intellectual property, and financing arising from the Royalty Plan."

That's no small amount of financing. The suit says that just in the time since he took a sabbatical in 2014, the royalty plan the three developers struck with Take-Two had already paid out $93 million to the Housers, with up to $523 million in additional money as yet unaccounted for.

Benzies' suit says Sam Houser handled the establishment of AGC and all business matters surrounding it, allowing Benzies to be more heads down in development work. The suit claims Houser cultivated Benzies' trust, repeatedly telling him in emails that they were "partners forever," and ending messages with, "Love, Sam."

also

As for where the relationship soured, a potential source of friction between Sam Houser and Benzies came in late 2013 with the launch of GTA Online. The lawsuit noted that previous GTA games always had Sam Houser's name last, indicating him to be the most significant contributor. For GTA Online, which the suit says "the Houser brothers had little interest in," Benzies put his name last in the credits. A Rockstar executive acting as an intermediary between the two men allegedly told Benzies that Sam Houser was unhappy with the move, suggesting that Benzies "wanted to take over the company."

more at the link

 

[timetokill]

Wow, equating "put name last on credits" and "taking over the company"

Legendary egos

 

[Chittagong]

Absolute lunatics, everyone involved. I guess the upside is that they'll only piss away each other's money in the process.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

So basically middle school.

 

[FullMetaltech]

This is a mess all around. I still want my RDR2 though.

 

[potatohead]

Absolute lunatics, everyone involved. I guess the upside is that they'll only piss away each other's money in the process.

Lawyers and bankers always win, no matter what.

courtesy of Nasty





also



more at the link

The maturity is not strong in this one.

 

[NastyBook]

Shit. Show.

 

[Chittagong]

This is a mess all around. I still want my RDR2 though.

Based on the email correspondence between the Housers and Benzies, now that Benzies is out Rockstar's output will likely be fuck all.

 

[ashecitism]

"Take-Two and Rockstar responded by making scurrilous allegations, a revenge tactic they had used before with other respected employees, this time deploying it against Mr. Benzies in an attempt to concoct false grounds for termination for Cause and to intimidate him into not pursuing his royalty claims," the suit claims. "Take-Two and Rockstar threatened to use these false charges against Mr. Benzies if he continued to assert his rights. This was a shocking development given that Sam Houser himself had orchestrated and encouraged a company culture involving strip clubs, personal photography of employees in sexually compromising positions, and other conduct grossly in violation of standard workplace norms."

.

 

[Consumer]

For GTA Online, which the suit says "the Houser brothers had little interest in"

Yup, GTAO has fundamentally shitty design and I had a feeling the Housers weren't very fond of it either. Good to know my suspicions were on point.

I mean for the love of god, these were the people that said they'd be depressed if GTA started releasing regularly every 1-2 years; it makes no sense why they'd fuck up the game's economy with microtransactions. Should've just stuck with SP DLC to at least maintain their goodwill rather than cashing out with shark cards, but it seems that was impossible with Benzies on the team.

Looks like GTA could have a brighter future than ever.

EDIT: Wow, this could also really explain why GTA Online is labelled as a separate entity than GTAV -- they don't want the rich experience of GTAV to be tainted by the game's messy MP with the likes of microtransactions and many features missing from GTAV (like animals).

 

[potatohead]

.

O.O

Got to be shitting me lmao

 

[speedomodel]

What in the actual fuck.

 

[flaxknuckles]

.

Sounds like some Wolf of Wall Street stuff

 

[ModBot]

All this coverage on the darkness is driving me around the benz