STUDIOS // ROCKSTAR NORTH | BETA
of the game. Rockstar North rose to the challenge, though – and IV was another smash hit, another commercial juggernaut. “Our darkness showed in IV, and we
realised that,” says Benzies. “So the DLC lightened it up a bit. Gay Tony especially was more flamboyant and bigger. The expansions added more energy.” Each signature Rockstar North game has been a reflection of its teams’ emotions and experiences; an innovative debut, a swift follow-up, a third game gorging on excess, then a difficult fourth album, and so on. “Yes, it is a reflection of us, like music,” says
Benzies. “Or a book, or a film – for some of us some parts are more reflective than others, maybe,” he says. GTA IV’s saga of two brothers who move to America and clash head on with its agonising culture might speak to how Sam and Dan Houser felt as GTA came under fire, perhaps. Letting the games do the talking like this is
partly why Rockstar’s prize studio has a bit of a mystique.
Although the studio has done more
interviews and press than ever this year, Develop’s intrusion into the studio – they never have press actually visit – is a rarity. But really the team is just too busy making its creation to be on a constant PR trail for it, says Benzies. “The game always comes first,” he says. The
dream of screaming fans at Wembley when playing in a band during his youth is one thing, but Benzies doesn’t seem to be in the job for personal media exposure. “And anyway, Dan [Houser] does a lot of it because
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he’s funny and articulate. We’re not. We write the other story – the code story.” It’s almost humble to the point of stubbornness. As the creator of the world’s most prominent, most adored, most notorious game franchise, we expect or demand some arrogance. But there is none when Develop visits Rockstar North. It is early August and the game is nearly done, and the studio is
I don’t know if people know this
or not, but there’s a huge amount of psychology behind the entire thing.
Leslie Benzies, President
peaceful but busy. There is a monitor on every desk with GTA V running. Benzies’ office has three of them on the go, plus a fast- moving screen tracking the proprietary BugStar QA tech the studio uses. As many people in the studio as possible
are playing and checking the game when we visit. These are the rehearsals, if you will, before the game takes to the stage, before GTA V is handed over to the tens of millions of people that bought the game in its first 24 hours on sale.
Rockstar North dedicates an almost unnatural level of time to the details, and refines the gameplay experience constantly. “I don’t know if people know this or not, but there’s a huge amount of psychology behind the entire thing,” says Benzies. “We don’t just go ‘Here’s a mission, off you
go’. We spend a lot of time, make a lot of graphs and work out how difficult something is, what the reward is, how you might be feeling after that mission.”
GRAND THEFT AUTEURS Those efforts have shown in the work itself, and the results, be that revenues or plaudits. Rockstar North hasn’t had two encores, but three, four, five… And while GTA has stayed successful and of its type, the games market has changed around it dramatically. Lowercase R rockstars are a dying breed. Does Benzies ever have any concern that all that success may fade? Or that the console business, where most of North’s success lies, is vanishing? “Of course, we think about it. But you have
to just reign it back in.” More humility, more focus on the end result. Benzies says there is one hunger that will
never vanish amongst the world’s consumers: “a demand for quality entertainment”. “People want to be entertained. Just look
at TV. Game of Thrones – people love it. It’s good, but not brilliant. But to some people it’s the only thing on TV. “Same goes when you’re sat on your iPhone twiddling around looking for apps,
OCTOBER 2013 | 15
Rockstar North’s GTA V is already a global phenomenon, making $1bn globally in three days – the biggest launch for an entertainment franchise ever
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