Grand Theft Auto V was a huge game for the entire Rockstar company of development studios, Scotland-based Rockstar North one of the chief among them. After the game was completed, studio head Leslie Benzies took a much deserved leave of absence. Almost a year and a half later, it would appear that leave of absence is permanent.
This was confirmed earlier today at Kotaku, who reached out to Rockstar about whether or not Benzies had returned from his sabbatical. Rockstar replied with the following 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.”
Benzies was on-board and actively involved with his team in several of Rockstar’s most prolific titles over his many years of tenure with the company, including Red Dead Redemption, Manhunt, and, of course, GTA V. His contributions to Rockstar projects over the years certainly include a respectable laundry list of titles that players have played across various consoles and generations at this point.
Benzies isn’t the only industry legend to leave his post recently. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw was confirmed to have left Valve officially a few days ago.
