Lazlow has left Rockstar Games

[kingcs]

7 hours ago, Commander S said:

 

 

Yeah, it's pretty tacky to see someone leaving a company because a family member is terminally ill (and they've been their carer for the last two years), and the only thing some people are saying in response is "will the next game be better or worse, then?". Read the room, for goodness' sake...

 

Same for tying it in with speculation comparing it to people leaving the company for whatever other reasons - it's not sure why other people have left (whether it be because of cultural changes after the recent scandals, or just because of other things in life), but when this particular case isn't because of being fired/pushed out for something, conflating all that with this is in bad taste, IMO.

Maybe start another thread to discuss 'the future of R* games', or 'recent changes at R*' - because by conflating Lazlow's family situation with things like Jeronimo Barrera getting canned, people could easily skim this thread and start pointing the finger over something that hasn't happened. It's bad enough that people are too busy talking about stuff beyond the sad news that should be more important, but also risks people falling into false speculation (I've already seen people elsewhere wonder why he was "fired", because they've jumped to conclusions without finding out what's actually happened).

Well said. 

[Gtaman_92]

First Benzie than Dan and now Lazlow has left. This ain’t looking good for R* at all.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Gtaman_92

[Mr. Galloway]

The R* I loved and grew up with died a long time ago. This just adds more dirt to its grave.

[AUScowboy]

Terrible news across the board, but I wish him well. Have been a fan not just of his large contributions to the R* universe, but also of his real life radio show (RIP Big Wayne) and appearances on O&A and Ron and Fez. Lazlow and his sister will be in my prayers fasho.

 

On a smaller scale this is also terrible for R*, Lazlow has low key been integral to making GTA what it is today. R* is quickly becoming a shell of its former self and I can't help but chalk that up to the top down decision making at T2. Not only does it look bad for them to lose so many intrinsic creative contributors, it will inevitably change the shape and future of the franchise's we all love so much. Obviously it won't be the end or anything so extreme, but i am wary of how obvious the impact will be of losing so many heavy hitters. The list is long and will likely get longer. Between Benzies, Dan and now Lazlow I don't see how any OG fan could not be at least a bit worried..

Edited August 14, 2020 by AUScowboy

[Copcaller]

That's f*cked up I wish him the best of luck in his personal life. The character was starting to get played out by V I know it makes sense as the crazy sh*t from the GTA verse just finally added up but I always preferred him as the straight man to all the wackiness. 

[Geisterfaust]

It's a very sad moment for the game development and another sign that the era that older GTA fans is ending right now, but it is even more sad for the fellow. I'm feeling very bad about his sister and the situation he is in. As a person in a similar situation it sometimes feels easier to be sick yourself instead of worrying about the person you love.

[ArthurFleck]

Benzies, Houser and now Lazlow everyone apart from Sam H, who ever touch these awesome awesome games such as IV, EFLC, MP3, RDR, and even V, are gone 
whats left ? - online worthless updates with overpriced trash - literally, broken messy MP, PCorect games such as RDR2, nothing new, and overall hypocrisy throu the whole company, SAAAD WORLD

[Spectre "2K"]

damn...I wish him the best in his future endeavors. Say what you want about his writing or comedy style, it really made GTA's humor and satire stick out about the rest.

[TheSantader25]

2020. You f*cking piece of sh*t of a year. 

 

All good things come to an end. I liked him right from the start all the way to the end. He's responsible for some of the unique feel I got from this series in comparison to other games. It's a unique style. Thanks for all the memories and good luck. 

 

As for R*, they are clearly in a transitional stage. I hope they can rebuild by signing new talents but the direction they're heading for at the moment is not promising. I can just hope for the best. 

Edited August 14, 2020 by TheSantader25

[MVP]

It sounds like original Rockstar is getting kicked out and Take Two are moving in. I don't know anymore with this company.

[Zello]

2 hours ago, MostWantedMVP said:

It sounds like original Rockstar is getting kicked out and Take Two are moving in. I don't know anymore with this company.

Kinda funny really since I think Rockstar kicked Take Two out of their headquarters that they shared in New York and Take Two moved to another building around the time RDR2 released.

[Excalibur Voltaire]

It's honestly sad that the theory about the Van der Linde gang is based of Rockstar Games itself is becoming even truer

 

I wish for the best to him

[Euri DR]

Now Fernando Martinez will become the older gta character in the franchise.

[Dr.Rosenthal]

End of an era, for sure. With all these original creatives leaving R* I fail to see how they’ll manage to keep making their secret sauce and keep R* games feeling like R* games, but who knows, maybe I’m wrong.
 

Lazlow’s and Dan’s writing has been prolific, phenomenal and a staple of the GTA series - difficult to replace, no matter how big the muscles are at R* studios. I don’t doubt that R* will keep making great games, but they’ll definitely be different going forward. I hope R* finds other strong creative voices and that they don’t just try and replicate the Dan+Lazlow formula going forward, as that’s simply impossible.

 

Thanks for everything, Lazlow. All the best wishes to you and your family.

 

F*ck cancer.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Dr.Rosenthal

[Evil empire]

I wish Lazlow courage given what he's going through and wish him good luck on his projects.

[GTA-Biker]

This sucks.With most of the prominent R* employees leaving (Leslie Benzies, Dan Houser, and now Lazlow),I'm kinda worried about the future of R* Games.Sure,the company will continue to exist and make games,but will they be as good as most of the stuff they made in the past?Many people already complain because R* released only one new game after 2013 as opposed to releasing games every year back in the 2000s,how they're focusing mostly on Online and shark cards,and because they're porting GTA 5 to next gen consoles instead of finally making GTA 6,so I'm kinda afraid they're gonna get the same reputation as EA or Activision of a videogame company that was once loved by fans for making good games but eventually became hated for focusing primarily on profit.I hope it won't happen and they'll still be a good and beloved company.

Edited August 15, 2020 by GTA-Biker

[TwistOfLime21]

If he does do a reboot of The Lazlow Show, it’ll be night and day different to how it was originally. He’d be “cancelled” immediately if it’s even a fraction like that. I’m guessing that’s why he’s removed the box set from his site too.

 

 

Edited April 23 by TwistOfLime21

[Rucke]

Sorry to hear this! But not surprised. So many people have left Rockstar since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. People who have worked there almost since the company was founded. It's definitely not a coincidence. I think Rockstar is going through some serious changes as a company right now. I'm sure there are a lot more people to be added, but here is a list of some big names that have left since RDR2 that I managed to find mostly through LinkedIn.

 

Dan Houser, VP Creative & Co-Founder

Jeronimo Barrera, VP Product Development

Adam Tedman, VP Digital Marketing

Abraham Ahmed, Senior Animation Specialist

Steve Martin, Studio Head Rockstar San Diego

Tim Bates, Studio Head Rockstar Lincoln

Imran Sarwar, Design Director

Sergei Kuprejanov, Creative Director

 

And now even Lazlow himself...

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Rucke

[Fake Lilina]

You're kidding me, right?

 

Rockstar, what the heck is wrong with you?

[Senor DeekHead]

man, i would say something about gta vi getting pushed even longer, but at this rate, we are never getting it

[Big_Smiley]

14 hours ago, Euri13 said:

Now Fernando Martinez will become the older gta character in the franchise.

When you spend time cleaning your room while leaving Chatterbox-FM bumping in the backround in the summer of 2001 marks a special memory with a distinct voice that made you laugh almost everytime. Just made you make Claude idle in the car and listen for hours until it was over. It was that good. The dude seemly made the gta radio stations to where it was at. Others have different opinions once future gta's came in but at the end of the day that voice was beyond special.

 

Very recognizable throughout the community for the last 20 years. My favorite works from Lazlow are from Chatterbox-FM his amazing  abilities to produce such an nostalgic radio in VC, and the works in Integrity 2.0 in IV that made me repeat what I used to do in III. Saving marriages with Fernado is up there, lol but the amount of creativity Lazlow had done throughout the years might just be beyond all of us. Especially now with his departure. I only wish for the best with Lazlow and his family. We have a grate list of gta games to always remember his work as a wonderful memory. R* has just literally has been crumbling at a fast rate at this point.

 

1 hour ago, rodie beta researcher said:

man, i would say something about gta vi getting pushed even longer, but at this rate, we are never getting it

You live under a damn rock?? GTAVI has as already been released early specifically for PS5 users "you're welcome by the way". It's called go and purshase V for the next gen console and continue to support GtaO by making sure you buy shark cards and catch the latest updates. Thank you for your amazing support!

 

-Former Rockstar North Janitor now in charge with working alongside Sam Houser.

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Big_Smiley
sh*t spelling

[Senor DeekHead]

14 minutes ago, Big_Smiley said:

When you spend time cleaning your room while leaving Chatterbox-FM bumping in the backround in the summer of 2001 marks a special memory with a distinct voice that made you laugh almost everytime. Just made you make Claude idle in the car and listen for hours until it was over. It was that good. The dude seemly made the gta radio stations to where it was at. Others have different opinions once future gta's came in but at the end of the day that voice was beyond special.

 

Very recognizable throughout the community for the last 20 years. My favorite works from Lazlow are from Chatterbox-FM his amazing  abilities to produce such an nostalgic radio in VC, and the works in Integrity 2.0 in IV that made me repeat what I used to do in III. Saving marriages with Fernado is up there, lol but the amount of creativity Lazlow had done throughout the years might just be beyond all of us. Especially now with his departure. I only wish for the best with Lazlow and his family. We have a grate list of gta games to always remember his work as a wonderful memory. R* has just literally has been crumbling at a fast rate at this point.

 

You live under a damn rock?? GTAVI has as already been released early specifically for PS5 users "you're welcome by the way". It's called go and purshase V for the next gen console and continue to support GtaO by making sure you buy shark cards and catch the latest updates. Thank you for your amazing support!

 

-Former Rockstar North Janitor now in charge with working alongside Sam Houser.

 

mom can we get gta 5

no we already have gta 5

[DoTz78]

[Banana]

Just another nail in the coffin for the GTA series.

[TheSantader25]

On 8/14/2020 at 1:38 AM, Zello said:

Old Lazlow interview

https://web.archive.org/web/20080909235902/http://lazlow.com/faqs/interview-originally-in-psx2com.html

 

 

Dammit I read it in Lazlow's voice. It makes the sadness worse. 

[saintsrow]

On 8/13/2020 at 10:40 AM, GTAFanClub said:

It’s sad seeing guys that I looked up to leave my favorite gaming company. If Sam Houser, Rob Nelson and Aaron Garbut leave too eventually, I won’t see R* as the same company anymore. Best wishes to Lazlow and his family!

Aaron Garbut is in my opinion the driving force that makes Rockstar virtual worlds uniquely rich and realistic.  If Aaron is the art director (in addition to the other synergistic roles he has) on next Rockstar products, it will be OK.  Aaron can create perfection in any virtual world, like he did in RDR2.

 

Like Dan Houser said in an interview, there's almost nowhere left to go in GTA to parody the USA and world situation, which has been the underlying theme, and he despaired that another GTA could even be made, because of this.  Lazlow was central to that part of the GTA series, and as stated above by others, it was getting a little too stretched.  But not just Lazlow - a lot of the GTA characters were straining to be cynical and jaded enough to carry the atmosphere that GTA has trademarked.  As others said above and elsewhere, GTA IV was already heading in that direction.  

 

Best wishes to Lazlow and his family.  It was fun while it lasted, and it lasted a long time.  Maybe he'll have fun doing something new and different.

[Magic_Al]

On 8/15/2020 at 8:58 AM, TwistOfLime21 said:

If he does do a reboot of The Lazlow Show, it’ll be night and day different to how it was originally. He’d be “cancelled” immediately if it’s even a fraction like that. I’m guessing that’s why he’s removed the box set from his site too.

It would have to be completely different without the late Big Wayne. Anyway, define "cancelled" since Anthony Cumia is cancelled but he still has his own subscription platform, which  by the way is one place a Lazlow show could possibly go since several past episodes originated from The Compound before it was anything more than Anthony's home studio, that is, if Anthony and Lazlow are still friends, which is difficult to say because The Lazlow Show pretty much ended before the Opie and Anthony cancellation and aftermath and there's not much to go on since then.

[TwistOfLime21]

5 hours ago, Magic_Al said:

It would have to be completely different without the late Big Wayne. Anyway, define "cancelled" since Anthony Cumia is cancelled but he still has his own subscription platform, which  by the way is one place a Lazlow show could possibly go since several past episodes originated from The Compound before it was anything more than Anthony's home studio, that is, if Anthony and Lazlow are still friends, which is difficult to say because The Lazlow Show pretty much ended before the Opie and Anthony cancellation and aftermath and there's not much to go on since then.

I’m not sure about Anthony. I only really know him from when he’d appear on The Lazlow Show. Lazlow is working on shows for two of the biggest entertainment companies in the world, Disney and Netflix, which is a lot different to working for yourself. 

[Spider-Vice]

On 8/16/2020 at 12:26 PM, saintsrow said:

Like Dan Houser said in an interview, there's almost nowhere left to go in GTA to parody the USA and world situation, which has been the underlying theme, and he despaired that another GTA could even be made, because of this.  Lazlow was central to that part of the GTA series, and as stated above by others, it was getting a little too stretched.  But not just Lazlow - a lot of the GTA characters were straining to be cynical and jaded enough to carry the atmosphere that GTA has trademarked.  As others said above and elsewhere, GTA IV was already heading in that direction.  

 

This brought something to my mind. It's very possible that GTA VI is safe and sound, and will still be a fun game to play with nice writing, but Dan could have gotten demotivated from writing satire about a country that's already satirising itself. That interview where he talks about the current state of the US showed some demotivation, but it might be personal and it might not mean any kind of doom to the GTA series as Rockstar has other very talented people. Who knows if fresh blood isn't actually going to make things a bit better?

[Senor DeekHead]

On 8/18/2020 at 2:11 PM, Spider-Vice said:

This brought something to my mind. It's very possible that GTA VI is safe and sound, and will still be a fun game to play with nice writing, but Dan could have gotten demotivated from writing satire about a country that's already satirising itself. That interview where he talks about the current state of the US showed some demotivation, but it might be personal and it might not mean any kind of doom to the GTA series as Rockstar has other very talented people. Who knows if fresh blood isn't actually going to make things a bit better?

i do believe that youre right, that gta vi could be a fun game, but usually companies who milk their greatest hit for a long time usually end up in the gaming graveyard.

just take a look at sonic, sega used to milk the hell outta the franchise and look where they are now, 3rd party game developers.

(i shouldnt actually be blaming rockstar, because its take-2 thats forcing them to constantly milk the games. just shows how sh*tty take-2 is.)