Departed lead developer of GTA games applies for brand for new game

Former Rockstar North developer Leslie Benzies has signed up some new company names. He has also applied for a trademark for a game called ‘Time for a New World’.

The companies are Royal Circus Games Limited, Starship Group, Everywhere Game Limited and VR-Chitect Limited. Under the first of these names, the trademark for the game “Time for a New World” has been applied for. Benzies also has an application in progress on the trade name for the associated hashtag; ‘#tfanw’. The Scotsman newspaper reports that, according to the filings, VR-Chitect Limited will focus on producing headsets, goggles and software that ‘enable virtual reality viewing’.

Scotsman Benzies has been instrumental in the development of all 3d GTA games to date, from GTA III to GTA V. In addition, he was involved in the development of Manhunt 2, Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire and Max Payne 3.

Benzies took a sabbatical from Rockstar North in 2014 and in 2016 the company announced he would not be returning. Benzies later sued Rockstar for $150 million, claiming he was entitled to arrears of royalties. Lawyers for Benzies claim the sabbatical was forced and he was not allowed back into the company. Rockstar states that he was locked out because he would have behavioral problems.