History TroubledProduction / RockstarGames

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'': According to [[http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/14/11428072/the-great-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-explained emails released]] following Leslie Benzies' departure from [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] and subsequent lawsuit against the studio and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser, the game was so rough and unplayable just months before its release in 2010 that Sam Houser desperately emailed Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails, while the Housers were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles (however, a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Switch remaster were finally released by Rockstar in 2023), as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version. Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/disciplines/wives-of-rockstar-san-diego-employees-have-collected-themselves a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* ''Agent'' was a game that Rockstar was working on in the late '00s, boasting a retro '70s setting and a world-spanning SpyFiction plot inspired by classic Franchise/JamesBond in which players would visit the French Riviera, the Swiss Alps, Cairo, and outer space. After its announcement at 2009 followed by no further information until Rockstar quietly abandoned the trademark in 2018, it became a white whale for Rockstar fans wondering what became of it. In 2023, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20231122004942/https://insiderockstarnorth.blogspot.com/2023/11/distractions-agent-z.html this blog post]] by former Rockstar North developer Obbe Vermeij (later [[https://www.eurogamer.net/ex-rockstar-north-dev-talks-agent-abandoned-zombie-game-in-fascinating-new-blog deleted]] after he received a cease-and-desist from Rockstar) revealed that the answer was simple: Rockstar North was working on ''Agent'' simultaneously with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''[='=]s expansions and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', and when Rockstar's flagship franchise began demanding more attention, more of the studio's staff were taken off of ''Agent'', leaving the project in limbo. Eventually, it was punted off to another dev team, where it quietly died.

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'' saw the series change hands from Creator/RemedyEntertainment to Rockstar Games, and became as troubled and chaotic as any ''Grand Theft Auto'' or ''Red Dead'' title.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'': According to [[http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/14/11428072/the-great-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-explained emails released]] following Leslie Benzies' departure from [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] and subsequent lawsuit against the studio and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser,the game was so rough and unplayable just months before its release in 2010 that Sam Houser desperately emailed Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails, while the Housers were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles (however, a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Switch remaster were finally released by Rockstar in 2023), as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version. Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/disciplines/wives-of-rockstar-san-diego-employees-have-collected-themselves a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* According to [[http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/14/11428072/the-great-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-explained emails released]] following Leslie Benzies' departure from [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] and subsequent lawsuit against the studio and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' was so rough and unplayable just months before its release in 2010 that Sam Houser desperately emailed Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails, while the Housers were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles (however, a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Switch remaster were finally released by Rockstar in 2023), as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version. Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/disciplines/wives-of-rockstar-san-diego-employees-have-collected-themselves a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.
* 2011's ''VideoGame/LANoire'' completely destroyed Team Bondi due to the lead designer having [[http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/117/1179020p1.html serious rage issues]] and treating it like his masterpiece. In order to get the game back on budget, they hired and chewed up nearly every budding game programmer and artist in Sydney (some of whom completely abandoned the industry due to their treatment) and were so hostile toward their publisher, Rockstar Games, that Rockstar publicly swore off ever working with them again. Team Bondi [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/10/05/la-noires-team-bondi-shutting-its-doors/#ce5a4401e650 shut down shortly after the game was released]]. Said lead designer and other ex-Team Bondi staff reportedly went to work on a SpiritualSuccessor titled ''The Whore Of The Orient'', but it was officially [[https://www.finder.com.au/whore-of-the-orient-cancelled put on hold]] in 2016.
* 2012's ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'' saw the series change hands from Creator/RemedyEntertainment to Rockstar Games, and became as troubled and chaotic as any ''Grand Theft Auto'' or ''Red Dead'' title.

* According to [[http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/14/11428072/the-great-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-explained emails released]] following Leslie Benzies' departure from [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] and subsequent lawsuit against the studio and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' was so rough and unplayable just months before its release in 2010 that Sam Houser desperately emailed Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails, while the Housers were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles (however, a PS4/Switch remaster was finally released by Rockstar in 2023), as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version. Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/disciplines/wives-of-rockstar-san-diego-employees-have-collected-themselves a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* According to [[http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/14/11428072/the-great-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-explained emails released]] following Leslie Benzies' departure from [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] and subsequent lawsuit against the studio and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' was so rough and unplayable just months before its release in 2010 that Sam Houser desperately emailed Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails, while the Housers were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles, as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version. Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/disciplines/wives-of-rockstar-san-diego-employees-have-collected-themselves a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* The aforementioned strains between Benzies and the Housers that emerged with ''RDR'' burst open during development on the online component to ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', known as ''Grand Theft Auto Online''.
** ''GTA Online'' was Benzies' pet project, but the Housers cared little for it and preferred to focus on the single-player story. The big sticking point for the Housers, however, was when Benzies' name was placed at the end of ''GTA V''[='=]s opening credits, a spot normally reserved for Sam Houser, indicating that he was the lead producer on the game. Apparently, Sam only found out when he sat down and played the game after release, a point that Benzies brought up in the lawsuit to question just how involved Sam was in the game's production, if he hadn't seen its opening credits until it was already released.
** After production on ''GTA V'' wrapped, Benzies received what he was told was a six-month paid sabbatical as a reward for his hard work. Instead, according to the lawsuit, this sabbatical turned out to be a prelude to a termination. When he found his work email and cell phone disabled, he went back to the studio only to find that the locks on his office had been changed, leaving him wondering if he was even still employed at Rockstar. Upon concluding that he had indeed been fired, Benzies sued Rockstar for $150 million, claiming that they had screwed him out of royalty payments. The Housers maintain that Benzies had left Rockstar voluntarily, thus dis-entitling him from royalties.