Future games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise are going to be missing the oversight of long-time series producer Leslie Benzies. That's because (as one Patrick Klepek reports), Benzies has decided to leave Rockstar North after 15 years with the company.

Benzies began at the Scotland-based developer back when it was still DMA Design. After working as team lead on Space Station Silicon Valley, he went on to take on Producer roles for Grand Theft Auto III and just about every GTA game after that. Benzies also served as producer on Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire, and held the position of President at Rockstar North.

Over a year and a half ago, Rockstar reported that Benzies had gone on a temporary sabbatical. When asked for a follow up today, they gave Kotaku this statement:

We can confirm that Leslie Benzies went on sabbatical on September 1, 2014 and has decided not to return to work for the company. We are very grateful for Leslie’s contributions to Rockstar over the last 15 years as we worked together to make some amazing games.

Leslie helped us build an incredible team that will continue to create great experiences for our fans. Leslie will always be a friend to the company and of course we are going to miss him but we wish him the absolute best for the future.

Rockstar has always been sort of a black box, so it's hard to know for sure how large of a role Benzies had in developing Rockstar North's particular style. Kotaku reports that Rockstar vets Aaron Garbut and Rob Nelson have taken on leadership roles at the studio, so it isn't as if the team has been left without a rudder. That said, it will still be hard to look at the studio's next game without wondering what it would be like if Benzies hadn't left.

Crazy, success is not everything!

Maybe they can finally get their shit together and make a Uniracers 2 now.

Damn, I always recognized his name in the credits. Some of my favorite games.

I am guessing but considering the crash fest GTA 4 and 5 was, he probably left due to differences with the team so the left rudderless part probably started after GTA 3.

Huh, I always thought Leslie Benzies was a woman whenever I saw his name in the GTA games.

That Rockstar money wasn't enough.

Really talented guy. Hopefully he keeps making games!

Making GTAs is probably very stressful work.

Well, conversely there were things in the past few GTA games that stank....let's be real, there were sticky issues. So, maybe, the games get better. It possible, or just as possible as assuming they were degrade in some way.

I feel like it's the opposite. He took a sabbatical, looked at his money, and realized "holy shit I can be living like this for the rest of my life. FUCK WORK."

@hassun: Based on first hand accounts of former developers there, stressful doesn't even begin to cover it. They all put in 60+ hour weeks, including nights and weekends. There were reports during Red Dead Redemption of people essentially living at the studios and working around the clock to get the game shipped. It's supposed to be among the most intense and incredibly difficult work in the industry. I can say that I've known a couple people who have worked with Rockstar for some first parties and none of them had anything nice to say about the working conditions and held nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for every developer at the company. I know for a fact that many people leave Rockstar simply due to being unable to keep up with the breakneck pace once they started a family or hit middle age. I'm always impressed how long the Houser brothers have managed to stick with the studio, but then again even compared to Leslie they are paid an absolute fortune for their work.

Suffice to say he won't have any financial trouble, though. I've heard that their compensation packages are staggering, measured in at least 8 figures a year plus bonuses. He's likely worth tens of millions of dollars at this point, and at the point in his life where he wants to relax and spend that money instead of seeing his family once or twice a month.

So...when's Table Tennis Two?

I guess after a 17 month vacation from development, going back into a crunch didn't sound too appealing.

@raven10: That's sadly not entirely surprising news to hear. The way I see it with massive budget franchises like GTA. It's like going all-in in poker with a great hand every time you make a new game. High risk, high reward. These games cost up to 100 million USD to make and are huge amount of work. If they hit they make their investment back multiple times over but if they were to fail it's (nearly) the end of the company.

Reminds me of Free Radical Design which made multiple great games and then made 1 flop and it was all over for them. Even smaller devs like that were betting the farm on each new release.

Screw GTA, I want to hear about his contributions to Space Station Silicon Valley!

Benzies too busy driving Benzos?

What?

Dude has more than earned his right to take a break from this kind of work. Enjoy life, Les! and thanks for all the games.

@hassun: GTA V's budget was reportedly way higher than that. I remember estimates floating around that, along with marketing, GTA was knocking on $300 million. That kind of budget probably leads to unimaginable pressure put on Benzies. But he does seem to have succeeded, GTA V sold a ludicrous amount of copies and GTA Online is also very popular.

@d_w: video game lineages always weird me out

When has this not been the case with GTA? Sticky issues and offensive content is core component of GTA's formula.

End of a era I hope this doesn't effect Rockstar games quality. To me when a new GTA comes it's bigger then the Superbowl bigger than any other games release it puts all other entertainment to shame at least for me. I really hope GTA 5 gets some SP DLC I love that fucking game.

Jesus.

"My last project sold over 54 million copies. I'm gonna take a year-and-a-half off. Figure shit out."

If that's not success, I don't know what is.

No kidding. Despite all the whining about the content in the GTA franchise, Rockstar always managed to shatter expectations and deliver a quality product with every release. I can't think of any other studio that has that borderline obsessive attention to detail like Rockstar Games. They could have taken the easy way out and annualized Grand Theft Auto, but Rockstar puts some serious love into their games and it shows.

I'd love to play some more GTA5 single player content. In case there's any Rockstar employees who are Giant Bomb users.....I think I've got some good ideas for some single player story content in GTA5. Call me?

(Yes. I am a massive GTA fanboy. When I learned as a very impressionable youth that there was this PS1 game where you basically were able to steal a car and turn pedestrians into hamburger, I had to scam my parents into picking up GTA.)

Now that they dumped that dead weight, can we get with the RDR 2 already?

GTA Games are masterworks in technical game creation, they really are amazing to look at. Then you pick up the controller and realize this garbage hasn't been fun since Vice City.

To the people who've finished GTA4 and GTA5 I hope to never be at the whim of your poor taste.

To all those uber hardworking and talented developers at Rockstar. I wish you would apply your skills to more interesting projects. Then again I guess it's hard to get off the money train express, when you can ridicule someone for 10 million units sold as a small time player.

So keep chugging along Rockstar, and milking the shit out of the same old boring concept. Maybe GTA6 can be in New York playing as a hipster on a fixie dodging traffic with an smg in hand?

@colin_lashley: I was thinking the same thing. With respect to GTA I feel Rockstar lost its heart after Vice City. Maybe I just grew up and moved on as I was a sophomore in high school when it came out, but I haven't been able to enjoy one since.

As long as Rockstar continues to make GTA titles that play well, satirize modern life, and bring people out of their comfort zones with boundary-pushing content, I'll be happy.

Unlike Kojima, he was actually on vacation. Although 17 months is a long time to be away.

Thanks Austin and also Patrick!

Rockstar is probably my favorite developer, I would say for certain at least the most consistently great, so I thank him for the great games and wish him luck.

Or after a while you just want to try something else. It doesn't mean he was unhappy necessarily. Change can be good. That's a long time. The Beatles broke up when things were pretty big for them.

Anyways who can know unless he ever says.

@hassun: Wait, that's what happened with Free Radical? Haze?

wow... If only I knew.

Still looking forward to Red Dead 2 (or 3 or whatever).

@hassun: It's not entirely the same due to the whole 2K Games half of the company. They get solid income from the yearly NBA titles alongside Firaxis joints and series like Bioshock, Mafia, and Borderlands. A single misfire would put the company in pretty dire financial straights, but it wouldn't be the end of them assuming all the 2K titles released that year didn't bomb also. Free Radical was a one game per time company. Hence their entire future was dependent on a single release. One of the reasons Insomniac has survived as an independent AAA developer is because they were smart enough to become a two or three game studio. It gives them a bit of cushion should one project either fall through or turn out poorly.

Too many dead hookers on his conscience.

I hope he's not sick. That's what this sounds like to me.

I won't remember many Rockstar people, but Leslie Benzies and the Houser brothers will always be the ones I think of whenever I do. Their names are etched into my mind thanks to the opening credits of every Rockstar game I've played. I've always wondered why a producer got such a prominent placement in the credits, but regardless, thanks for bringing us so many great open world games that pretty much defined my childhood.

Hell yes, Space Station Silicone Valley!

Anyway, best of luck Benzies.

Let's be honest. He's on Vacation.

@grumpymoose: Same, except for it being San Andreas. Probably more the case that a lot of us just grow out of their style, especially since they still seem to have the sense of humour of a 15 year old boy.

he's at the farm upstate? i hope he tries their free-range, pasture-raised eggs!

I like how Rock Star just put their head down and make great games, they never really reveal much to the media.

It'll be a strange thing to play a Rockstar title where his name is missing from the opening credits.

Can't say anything but wish the man the best of luck to whatever is next for him.

Maybe now we'll get GTAV x SKYRIM.

If you can afford to take unpaid time off work for 2 years, chances are you probably don't need the money :P

SCOOPS STRIKES AGAIN

@raven10: I've always wondered how insulated R* is within TakeTwo. I assume they are pretty independent as long as they are successful.

Alright, start off with an opinion. Waiting for a good argument, wait followed by an insult.... and more insults. And quite an interesting concept for GTA6 I might say... Oh well, still waiting for those arguments I guess.

Personally I think GTA 3 and IV were the biggest "holy shit moments", because of a technical standpoint. GTA Vice City has a special place because I was like 14 and played a lot with my friends online (moomapper anyone?). But I think I enjoyed GTA V the most, very well put together with the 3 characters. Not to mention amazing online heists!