The name Leslie Benzies still ring a bell in the gaming industry, particularly in the GTA 5 community. He may not be as highly recognized as Hideo Kojima, but he certainly has a great resume to offer. After a controversial departure from Rockstar North, the then-president is about to make another history in the world of video games.
In an interview from Polygon, Benzies departed from the GTA 5 developer due to an internal feud. Apparently, this isn't just an issue that can be blown by the wind. It resulted to a lawsuit, as the former Rockstar executive filed the company a royalty complaint of about $150 million.
While lawsuit is still ongoing, Benzies is looking to create another path. Together with other ex-Rockstar figures -- namely, Mathew Smith (former audio director) and Colin Entwistle (former lead programmer) - he created his own team in hopes to develop a new project.
As of this writing, the former GTA 5 developer's studio remains unnamed. However, reports suggest that his offices are situated in Los Angeles and Edinburgh, Scotland -- the latter being the hometown of Rockstar North. The soon-to-be released game has a working title called Everywhere. The engine it's being based on is from Amazon's very own free game engine called Amazon Lumberyard.
Many have already thought of Everywhere as something that's kind of related to other Rockstar games such as GTA 5. However, Benzies iterated in the interview that "it's a game at heart" and it has absolutely no fittings in any other genres of today. That, in one way or another, it "breaks out of the existing boundaries" that most classed games offer.
The aforementioned title was said to have thought of in the second half of last year. As of now, Benzies is still putting up a team that'll help him propel the title to existence. Overall, he and his team promised that Everywhere is a unique game -- one that can't be likened to GTA 5 and any other.
