'GTA 5' news: President of game's developing studio no longer with Rockstar

 Twitter courtesy of Rockstar Games

Leslie Benzies, the president of "Grand Theft Auto 5" development studio Rockstar North, has reportedly left the company.

News of Benzies' departure has already been confirmed by Rockstar in a statement that the company has released to Kotaku.

In the statement, Rockstar revealed that Benzies had originally taken a sabbatical that began back on Sept. 1, 2014. Rockstar also shared that Benzies has since decided that he does not want to go back to work with the company.

Rockstar went on to thank Benzies for his contributions to the company over the last 15 years.

At this point, it's currently unclear why Benzies has decided to leave Rockstar North.

The company has thus far not issued any official reason for why the former Rockstar North president has left, and Benzies himself has not shared anything publicly to this point.

It's also unclear as to when exactly Benzies decided that he would not be returning to Rockstar North and if that may have had any impact on "Grand Theft Auto 5."

For now, fans who may want more answers may have to wait a while for other details to pop up.

The company has also announced that Aaron Garbut and Rob Nelson will now be handling management roles at Rockstar North, GameSpot reported. The pair will presumably take over majority of the duties left behind by Benzies.

In related news, it does not appear that the latest news concerning Rockstar North is having that much of an impact on the work being done on "Grand Theft Auto 5."

"Grand Theft Auto 5" performance capture artist Shawn Fonteno recently posted a picture of himself decked out in a motion capture (mo-cap) suit on Instagram. Fonteno lends his acting skills to "Grand Theft Auto 5" protagonist Franklin Clinton.

It's unclear exactly what Fonteno's post is related to, although some fans are speculating that it may be related to some new downloadable content (DLC) coming to "Grand Theft Auto 5."

More news about "Grand Theft Auto 5" should be made available in the future.

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