Leslie Benzies facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Leslie Benzies
Born	Leslie Peter Benzies (1971-01-17) 17 January 1971 (age 54) Aberdeen, Scotland
Occupation	Video game producer designer programmer
Years active	1995–present
Children	1
Awards	AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2014)

Leslie Peter Benzies (born 17 January 1971) is a Scottish video game producer. He is famous for being a key person behind the super popular Grand Theft Auto game series. He used to be the president of Rockstar North, which is a company that makes video games. Leslie Benzies was in charge of making many Grand Theft Auto games, from Grand Theft Auto III all the way to Grand Theft Auto V.

Early Life and First Games

Leslie Benzies was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. When he was young, his family moved to a town called Elgin. When Leslie was about 11 years old, his dad bought him a computer called a Dragon 32. Leslie taught himself how to write computer programs and even made his very first game!

Building a Career in Games

Leslie Benzies started his professional career making video games in 1995. He joined a company called DMA Design, which is now known as Rockstar North. There, he led the team that made a Nintendo 64 game called Space Station Silicon Valley. This game came out in 1998. After that, he started putting together the team that would create the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto III.

In 2005, Leslie Benzies and Sam Houser, who is the head of Rockstar Games, received a special award from BAFTA. This award recognized their important work in the video game world.

In 2014, Leslie Benzies bought an old church building in Stockbridge, Edinburgh for over £500,000. He wanted to make sure the building was kept safe and used by the community. He planned to create a group of local people to help manage it.

New Beginnings

Leslie Benzies took a break from Rockstar in 2014. In 2016, it was announced that he had left the company. After leaving, Leslie started new companies to create more video games.

In 2017, he started five new companies, including one called Royal Circus Games. This company plans to make games for different platforms like game consoles, computers, and mobile phones.

Later, in 2018, it was announced that Leslie Benzies' main new company was named Build a Rocket Boy Games. This company has received a lot of money from investors to help make its upcoming game called Everywhere. Another game, MindsEye, is also being made by his company.

Games Leslie Benzies Worked On

Here are some of the games Leslie Benzies helped create: