Take-Two Interactive hit with layoffs despite upcoming GTA 6 release
So far in 2024, the gaming industry has proved that no matter how big you are, you can always fail. Companies are rivalling 2023 in its entirety for brutal layoffs, with Microsoft and Sony proving that their foresight couldn't save the hard-working staff that helped their output move.
Smaller teams like Riot Games have suffered with 530 team members being lost from its offices and ZA/UM potentially suffering losses after canning a long-awaited Disco Elysium sequel. Now, it looks like a gaming giant which seemed too big to fail has also followed suit.
Take-Two Interactive is laying off about 580 workers
Click to enlargeAccording to a new filing, the publisher of GTA 6 and parent company of Rockstar Games is laying off a huge number of staff members. The SEC filing revealed that approximately 580 workers will be affected by the sweep, making up about 5% of the company.
The last annual report said it was standing strong with 11,580 staff members. The latest filing reads, "The company is rationalizing its pipeline and eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs."
Take-Two has been embarking on a lot of plans to cut down on costs in recent memory, with this program standing as the third that Take-Two has revealed since February 2023. Back then, CEO Strauss Zelnick asserted that "we don’t expect any kind of broad-based reduction in force."
It's deeply frustrating to see this happen once again, especially to Take-Two, which is a company that will be publishing GTA 6 soon. As GTA 6 is expected to be one of the most important gaming releases of all time and has just brought employees back to the office, it's not a good look.
Layoffs across the industry don't seem to be slowing down, suggesting we could be about to see the worst year for job losses in gaming on record. Something needs to change, and it needs to change now.
