Take-Two Interactive Software, including Rockstar Games, 2K, and Private Division has just announced that it will lay off around 5% of its employees, alongside canceling many games and projects along the line. The workforce cut will affect about 600 of its employees. That said, Take-Two is not the only company following the layoff trend this year, as giants like Embracer, EA, and Microsoft also cutting off a hefty part of their workforce.
With the recent announcement from the GTA maker, gamers are thoughtful about Grand Theft Auto VI's future, as the title is about one and a half years away.
Also read: Respawn's Star Wars FPS Game Cancelled Amidst Layoffs
Games Industry Layoffs Continue with Take-Two Interactive
The layoffs in Take-Two Interactive Software were announced on Tuesday, alongside more information on canceling future projects. This decision was made to support cost reduction, as the company aims to streamline operations and manage its expenses for the future. Gamers have yet to know which projects were canceled, as Take-Two has not revealed anything about that.
According to Business Today's report, the layoffs and canceled projects will expectedly incur a total sum of $200 million, improving the company's finances for the time being. The report also suggests that the canceled projects could contribute up to $140 million of these charges, and will also support the severance and other employee costs up to $30 million. Many also suspect that this decision was inevitable after they acquired Gearbox and Borderlands for $460 million.
While this was a hard decision for the company to take, the workforce cut will actively help them generate over $165 million in annual cost savings. All that being said, workers and video game developers are still concerned about the rapid firing of companies since the pandemic.
Companies like Riot Games, EA, Sony Corp, and more have been actively following the trend to cut down their workforce to either generate savings or cost reduction. Amidst the layoffs, many workers find it difficult to get hired under one of the video game giants. The revenues for PC and console games have been declining for a while now, as most AAA titles are coming out to moderate to negative reviews, with only a few catching the spotlight. As the trend continues, many researchers at Newzoo predict that this slow growth will be persistent throughout 2026, and will tag the industry down below pre-pandemic levels. There has been no further information from Take-Two following this announcement.