Star Wars : Rockstar Nails Daily Star over Fake GTA Story

Hey! Remember that story we ran last week, about the unscrupulous faux journalism exacted by the Daily Star? Rockstar apparently don’t like it when you make them out to be evil, opportunistic bastards.

Thanks to Rockstar’s lawyers, the paper’s had to retract and apologise for their story claiming that Rockstar was developing a GTA game based on the real-life murder and man-hunt that shook Rothbury.

We made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication and did not contact Rockstar Games prior to publishing the story. We also did not question why a best selling and critically acclaimed fictional games series would choose to base one of their most popular games on this horrifying real crime event.”

“It is now accepted that there were never any plans by Rockstar Games to publish such a game and that the story was false. We apologise for publishing the story using a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member.”

That’s quite the apology. It does get better though, and I have to give Rockstar kudos for how they’ve handled what’s been unnecessary negative publicity.

“We unreservedly apologise to Rockstar Games and we have undertaken not to repeat the claims again. We have also agreed to pay them a substantial amount in damages which they are donating to charity.”

No word yet, but I also hope that arrogant, ignorant “journalist” Jerry Lawton gets more than just a slap on the wrist – because I don’t find his actions even Raoul Moatly funny.

Last Updated: July 26, 2010