Take-Two has re-signed key employees of Rockstar Games whose contracts were set to expire in early 2012.
In an official announcement, Take-Two has revealed that longtime Rockstar Games employees Sam Houser, Dan Houser, and Leslie Benzies will be staying with the company for the foreseeable future. The trio’s contracts were set to expire in January 2012, but they won’t be leaving just yet.
The looming expiration date led analysts to predict that Grand Theft Auto V would be delivered before then. Both of the Housers and Benzies have produced, written, or otherwise helped with the design of the Grand Theft Auto series since its early days on the PC, in addition to other Rockstar Games properties such as Red Dead Redemption. The Housers also co-founded Rockstar Games in the late 1990s.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Reuters that the renewed contracts would last “several years” with similar financial compensation terms as previous contracts. Analysts believe that retention of the Housers and Benzies will help invigorate investor confidence in Take-Two.
Based on rumor, Rockstar Games was predicted to announce Grand Theft Auto V at E3 2011 or sometime this year. Now that this trio of key employees is staying with the company, it might not have to rush things quite as much.
Source: Reuters
