The release of further files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is also shaking up the gaming industry. The documents accuse former GTA lead developer Leslie Benzies of sexual assault. Rockstar boss Sam Houser is said to have known about it.
Update from February 3, 2026:
Leslie Benzies has now responded with a statement, which Kotaku has obtained via an official spokesperson:
The allegations are false. I had a consensual three-month relationship with this person [editor’s note: referring to Sarah Ransom] and have never met Jeffrey Epstein, visited his island or properties, or flown on his plane. Any claim to the contrary is misleading.
Original report: February 2, 2026
At the end of January, the U.S. Department of Justice released approximately three million pages of additional investigative files on the abuse complex surrounding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
These files not only contain the names of celebrities such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Britain’s Prince Andrew, who has since been dismissed from all his offices, but also at least two well-known names from the video game industry:
We are talking about Sam Houser, currently president of Rockstar Games, and former GTA lead developer Leslie Benzies, who now heads the studio Build a Rocket Boy. The latter is accused of sexual assault in the newly released files.
What exactly is this about?
The allegations against Benzies come from an email exchange with Sarah Ransomed, a confirmed victim of the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell abuse ring. In an email from 2023, Ransome describes how Benzies also sexually assaulted her in 2006 while she was in a relationship with him.
The emails are evidence in the proceedings against Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. They were used in the trial by Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz to prove Ransome’s lack of credibility, because in an email from 2024 she mentions various sex tapes, the existence of which she had previously denied (via BBC).
In her statement, Ransome writes that Benzies sexually assaulted her after throwing money at her—behavior she interprets as inspiration for similar scenes with prostitutes in the GTA series. According to her own statements, she was under the influence of drugs at the time.
Benzies is said to have visited her several times in New York and to have known about her situation in Jeffrey Epstein’s circle. He is also said to have provided Ransome with the funds for a trip to New York in September 2006.
Rockstar president Sam Houser is also implicated in this context, albeit indirectly. Ransome states that she met Houser “countless times” during her time with Benzies. She suggests that Houser and other Rockstar North employees were aware of what was going on “behind the scenes” and expresses surprise that there has not yet been a class action lawsuit against the studio’s management.
We have included the relevant passage below:
Rockstar North, Sam Houser, and Leslie Benzies are mentioned in the infamous list E- files. Specifically the “witness list” (NSFW)
by
u/RojaTop in
GamingLeaksAndRumors
Important: The presumption of innocence applies
The mention in the so-called “Epstein Files” is not yet proof of direct involvement in his abuse ring or of criminal behavior. The documents contain transcripts, emails, and statements that were compiled for the court proceedings and are initially unfiltered. Neither Leslie Benzies nor Sam Houser have been charged or convicted in connection with these allegations to date.
Delayed publication
One of the reasons this information is only now coming to light is the sheer volume of files. The Epstein Files were actually supposed to be released in full in mid-December 2025.
However, many of the names in the documents come from witnesses, investigators, or people who merely appeared in Epstein’s circle without being perpetrators themselves. To protect the personal rights of those involved, the release is now taking place in stages, after allegedly personal information has been redacted.
Incidentally, the Rockstar bosses are not the only connections to the gaming industry in the files. Another document reveals that Jeffrey Epstein was banned from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service in 2013. The reason for this was “severe, repeated harassment” and threats against other players.
The allegations come at an inopportune time for Rockstar. The GTA developer’s public image is currently tarnished. Last fall, it became known that Rockstar had laid off over 30 developers—allegedly to prevent the formation of a union section within the company. The next big ray of hope, GTA 6, was also recently postponed by another six months. And now the company is facing its next PR crisis.
So far, neither Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of Rockstar Games) nor Benzies’ current studio Build a Rocket Boy have commented on the allegations. We will update this article as soon as we receive a statement.
