The Benzies vs Rockstar feud is a fascinating read.
First, Benzies claiming they dumped him without cause and cut
him out of $150M in profit sharing owed.
scribd.com/do...ckstar
Second, Rockstar's response, essentially saying you were
guaranteed nothing.
scribd.com/do...ENZIES
Some amazing details in there. The 2009 Royalty Plan was for 50%
of Rockstar's Net Operating Income to be split, and it sounds like
virtually all of that went to the Housers and Benzies. As of Dec
2014 that pool contained $523M! So that's where all the Take Two
profits have gone over the years. 50%!!!! I figured it would be
high, but I never for a moment thought it would be that much. Then
you have Strauss sucking at the teat from the Take Two side of
things. The hundreds of devs working so hard on GTAV and other
games get scraps.
I don't think Benzies has much of a case here, despite it being
clear that the Housers kicked him out to avoid paying more
royalties, not too dissimilar to the Activision and Infinity Ward
break-up. Those profits Benzies hoped to get will now be enjoyed by
the Housers, not being returned to shareholders in any way.