Take-Two, the publishing giant behind the GTA series, is laying off hundreds of staff and cancelling projects in order to save costs.
The eagerly-anticipated GTA 6 is likely to break records when it eventually releases, but that hasn’t stopped its publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software, from making sizeable cuts to its business.
Said cuts came to light in a recent SEC filing dated 16th April (reported by Eurogamer). In it, the company said it plans to reduce its workforce by five percent and “eliminate several projects in development” in order to “enhance the company’s profile while still investing for growth.”
Take-Two has around 11,000 people on its payroll, meaning a five percent cut should equate to losses of about 550 staff. Those cuts, the publisher writes, will result in $165m in “annual cost savings.”
At the time of writing, it isn’t clear what projects are being cut across the development teams under the Take-Two banner. Aside from Rockstar Games, Take-Two also owns 2K, which in turn owns Firaxis Games and Cloud Chamber, as well as Ken Levine’s Ghost Story Games, which is currently working on its BioShock spiritual successor, Judas.
Take-Two’s move to “rationalise its pipeline”, to quote its filing, comes amid a wave of job losses, cancellations and closures across a crisis-struck videogame industry. What’s doubly perplexing is that, as Eurogamer notes, the staff cuts at Take-Two have emerged only a couple of months after its CEO said it had “no current plans” to lay off staff. Eight weeks is clearly a long time in the fast-moving world of game development.
As always, our sincere sympathies go to those affected by these cuts. GTA 6 is due out in 2025.
