Jack Thompson Vs. Rockstar [Grand Theft Auto / Bully]
Nobody likes a lawyer run amuck. In the early 2000’s, you couldn’t escape articles about Jack Thompson on video game websites. Jack Thompson venomously decried violence and sex in video games, and over the course of many years, filed suits in efforts to get specific games pulled from stores. And he really targeted Rockstar Games, the developers of the Grand Theft Auto series.
In a series of lawsuits, Thompson tried to step into several high profile cases in an attempt to link playing GTAIII or GTA: Vice City directly to murder. He was aggressive and always quick to respond to his detractors. There were many, many lawsuits — covering every game in the series up to GTAV. The guy just wouldn’t give up. He even went so far as to send letters to Take-Two Chairman Paul Zelnick’s mother in an attempt to shame the company.
Unsurprisingly, Rockstar Games took a few metaphorical shots at Jack Thompson in return. At the time, Rockstar Games was the edgy video game company — and they went so far to include a pretty pointed reference to Thompson in GTAIV. In the game, protagonist Niko Bellic can be sent out to murder a lawyer. The lawyer can randomly spout one of Jack Thompson’s IRL signature lines — “Guns don’t kill people, video games do.”
Jack Thompson never got his day in court proper with Rockstar. Instead, the activist lawyer was disbarred in 2008 for intimidation, lying under oath, libel, distribution of obscene materials, and more. A premature end to one of gaming’s great rivalries.
Rivals never back down. Learn more about the biggest rivalries in gaming on the next page.
