- Take-Two Interactive is laying off 600 people, impacting studios like Rockstar Games, 2K, and Private Division.
- Multiple games have been canceled as part of cost-cutting.
- The company intends to save over $160 million through both measures.
It appears there’s no escaping the layoff curse for gaming this year. Following brutal job cuts from Sony, Microsoft, EA, and more, Take-Two Interactive has confirmed the latest layoffs.
The parent company of teams like Rockstar Games, 2K, and more is letting go of about 600 developers.
Why it matters: Thousands of gaming industry professionals have lost their jobs this year already, with nearly all major publishers cutting large chunks of their business.
According to Reuters, Take-Two Interactive is laying off a total of 5% of its workforce.
The gaming giant has also canceled multiple projects that were in various stages of development. Take-Two Interactive had already cut jobs in 2022 and 2023, marking the third consecutive year of layoffs.
In total, the company employs over 11,000 developers. The latest wave is expected to net changes of $160 million or more as part of cost-cutting measures. According to the report, about $140 million of this will come from the canceled projects.
Meanwhile, laid-off employees will account for about $35 million. Since Take-Two Interactive has refused to specify the impacted projects, it remains to be seen how much major projects like GTA 6, due for launch in 2025, have been impacted.
What makes this more upsetting is that Take-Two Interactive is one of gaming’s strongest companies.
Games like GTA 5 continue to sell 5 million units each financial quarter, and Red Dead Redemption 2 recently became the industry’s 7th best-selling title to date. GTA 6 will also be a record-breaking release, bringing further profits next year.
Take-Two Interactive recently purchased Gearbox Entertainment for a whopping $460 million amid ongoing work on Borderlands 4. Perhaps this acquisition motivated the company to pursue layoffs, but it has not provided any further clarification.
As always, we wish the impacted employees nothing but the best. However, with each round of layoffs, it becomes increasingly upsetting to see the industry doing little to oppose this trend.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
