Rockstar Accept “Substantial Damages” From Daily Star
The Daily Star have paid “substantial” compensation to Rockstar Games after publishing a news story that suggested the Grand Theft Auto developer was in the process of making a game based on the Raoul Moat shootings.
The British tabloid claimed falsely that Rockstar were going to develop Grand Theft Auto: Rothbury and went as far as visiting a relative of one of Moat’s victims to get their opinion on Rockstar’s supposed tastelessness.
The writer of the story, Jerry Lawton, even had the audacity to call the Rockstar developers “idiots”. Lawton issued a “heartfelt” apology soon after but The Daily Star have had to pay damages to Rockstar regardless; Express Newspapers, who own The Daily Star, paid for their legal fees.
Rockstar went on to donate the money to charity.
Source: Eurogamer
I wish this happened every time.
As great as this is, I sadly doubt that this is going to deter tabloids from printing similar bollocks in the future. Still, one victory is better than nothing.
God, I love Rockstar now. I wish “Substantial Damages” was actually “Crippling Damages” or “Shitty Lying Reporter Firing Damages”.