Rockstar Games Files Lawsuit Against the BBC Over Its 'Grand Theft Auto' Docudrama

When news surfaced a few months ago that the BBC was making a docudrama about the Grand Theft Auto game franchise, it was assumed to be an officially-sanctioned project that would have the blessing of the games’ creators, Rockstar Games. That’s apparently not the case, as Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive has filed a lawsuit against the BBC over trademark infringement. The 90-minute feature is said to focus on the real-life conflict between Rockstar President Sam Houser and lawyer and known detractor of the GTA series, Jack Thompson. The project is apparently already pretty far along, with Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Paxton already cast in the aforementioned roles, so it will clearly be in the BBC’s best interest to settle this swiftly. Check out Rockstar’s statement on the matter below:

Take-Two Interactive has filed suit against the BBC for trademark infringement based on their movie currently titled Game Changer as it relates to Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto video game series.

While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project. Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.