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Take Two is laying off 5% of it's workforce

Draugoth

Gold Member
Take Two Interactive (including Rockstar, 2K and Private Division) just announced it will lay off about 5% of its workforce, cancel games and end projects.

April 16 (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO.O), opens new tab will lay off about 5% of its workforce, or around 600 employees, the publisher of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise said on Tuesday, as the video-gaming industry extends its more than two-year long job cuts.

The company will also scrap several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, which is expected to result in total charges of up to $200 million. It declined to name the projects that have been canceled .

 
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It’s never enough

There’s always someone at accounting trying to shave off and get a big fat bonus to keep investors with infinite growth.

It’s a dead end system and companies are still not realizing it.
Absolutely correct.

The kicker being most of these companies, across various industries, doing the layoffs are reporting record profits.
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
A persons face when they say Owrkforce

awkward ricky gervais GIF
 

twilo99

Gold Member
I’m guessing they didn’t go on a crazy hiring spree in the last 3 years because 5% is pretty weak
 
I doubt many layoffs are coming from Rockstar. Outside NBA 2K and GTA, what other franchises 2K have? Borderlands and Mafia have been dead for a while now
 

ReyBrujo

Member
Return to office doesn't make sense for a lot of roles nowadays.

Will play devil's advocate for a bit here: I work in IT (healthcare industry) and besides patents and copyright inherent to any software there are privacy laws we must uphold (HIPAA mainly) for patient's data. We must inform to a HIPAA committee whenever there's a breach of data (either malicious or unintentional) because data privacy is paramount in the industry. We train new employees to uphold that integrity (just as an example, you cannot send a username and a password through the same via, if you send the username via Skype you must send the password via mail, if you mention the username via Slack you must send the password via Skype, etc). Now, video games industry roles don't seem to have the same kind of training. There is a heavy rotation apparently, with people being hired and fired all the time, (I guess new) people dying to say in public they are working on GTA6, or willing to share information with news outlets out of excitement or sheer spite. And I guess management wants to minimize that risk, especially with such a high profile title. Not saying a developer cannot work from home, I do, but I'm not dying to mention to physicians who are paying licenses that we are implementing this or that feature anytime soon.
 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I doubt many layoffs are coming from Rockstar. Outside NBA 2K and GTA, what other franchises 2K have? Borderlands and Mafia have been dead for a while now
Gearbox / Embracer group own Borderlands.

(And the last entry sold 18 million as of last year so it’s far from dead.)

edit: oh wait did Take 2 buy them? Either way it’s not dead lol

But if they just bought Gearbox wouldn’t be shocked if they were hit with layoffs.
 
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Gearbox / Embracer group own Borderlands.

(And the last entry sold 18 million as of last year so it’s far from dead.)

edit: oh wait did Take 2 buy them? Either way it’s not dead lol

But if they just bought Gearbox wouldn’t be shocked if they were hit with layoffs.
Yeah, my overall point stands though. Outside of GTA and NBA 2k, T2 is bleeding. These layoffs shouldn't be a surprise. Just because they have Rockstar games doesn't mean they should financially irresponsible. That shouldn't be used as a point, that is just bad business
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Didnt know they had 12,000 people to begin with which is a ton.

I'm too lazy to look into why, but T2 lost a shit load of money lately.

Historically, they were never a big money making company except during prime GTA sales years. But GTA Online propped them up to be profitable. But past year it was a giant dump in losses.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Just an expansion of Dragouth's Reuters article....


April 16 (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO.O), opens new tab will lay off about 5% of its workforce, or around 600 employees, the publisher of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise said on Tuesday, as the video-gaming industry extends its more than two-year long job cuts.

The company will also scrap several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, which is expected to result in total charges of up to $200 million. It declined to name the projects that have been canceled .

Take-Two said the move is expected to drive more than $165 million of annual cost savings.

The company's shares were 1% higher in extended trading. They have fallen nearly 10% so far this year.

The move aligns Take-Two with Tencent-owned Riot Games, Electronic Arts (EA.O), opens new tab and Japan's Sony Corp (6758.T), opens new tab in trimming workforce this year due to uncertain spending from consumers after the pandemic-era boom.

PC and console gaming revenue growth is expected to remain below pre-pandemic levels through 2026 as gamers record fewer hours of playtime, according to research firm Newzoo.
Canceled projects will account for as much as $140 million of the total charges, while severance and employee-related costs are expected to be up to $35 million, it said. Take-Two will also reduce some office space as part of the move.

The company, which had 11,580 full-time employees as of March 2023, last month agreed to buy "Borderlands" maker Gearbox for $460 million in a cut-price deal at a time consolidation is driving up prices for makers of well-known titles.
Take-Two has been focused on the development of the next installment in the best-selling "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, but some reports have said the title could be delayed into 2026 from 2025.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Will play devil's advocate for a bit here: I work in IT (healthcare industry) and besides patents and copyright inherent to any software there are privacy laws we must uphold (HIPAA mainly) for patient's data. We must inform to a HIPAA committee whenever there's a breach of data (either malicious or unintentional) because data privacy is paramount in the industry. We train new employees to uphold that integrity (just as an example, you cannot send a username and a password through the same via, if you send the username via Skype you must send the password via mail, if you mention the username via Slack you must send the password via Skype, etc). Now, video games industry roles don't seem to have the same kind of training. There is a heavy rotation apparently, with people being hired and fired all the time, (I guess new) people dying to say in public they are working on GTA6, or willing to share information with news outlets out of excitement or sheer spite. And I guess management wants to minimize that risk, especially with such a high profile title. Not saying a developer cannot work from home, I do, but I'm not dying to mention to physicians who are paying licenses that we are implementing this or that feature anytime soon.
That's because people in medical care seem to have a high standard of ethics and privacy regarding confidential info. I work in consumer goods, and you dont get people leaking info or going on Twitter blabbing about company memos, bad bosses, badmouthing competing companies either. Banking seems like another one. I'm sure banking employees can snoop around and tell the world how much money celebs and athletes have in their bank account and everyone would click the link. I would too. It would be the ultimate in clicks and laughs. But they dont.

But the gaming industry has lots of weird people.

Supposedly the GTA6 leaked info last year was due to WFH and a guy's son was poking his nose around his dad's PC and uploaded GTA info to Reddit for laughs. I dont think anyone would expect that since I think most people think of leaked data coming from malicious hacks or a disgruntled employee trying to sabotage his company. Nobody expects a family member waltzing around to be the loose lipper. But the confidential content in nature is so tempting to abuse, you even got family members amped up to post it.
 
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Ozzie666

Member
Some executive needed to make his KPO/KPI for his mega bonus. Or the usual must make share holders happy with that return on investment.
I would have tought take 2 was doing really well with all their card packs and micro transactions.
 

winjer

Gold Member
These companies really don't care about their workers, nor about gamers.
It's all about record profits and pleasing shareholders.
 

BbMajor7th

Member
It’s never enough

There’s always someone at accounting trying to shave off and get a big fat bonus to keep investors with infinite growth.

It’s a dead end system and companies are still not realizing it.
Not just infinite, but also exponential.

"I need you to increase profits by ten million this year!"
"Well, due to an unexpected and largely unrepeatable stroke of luck, we actually hit twenty million! Great right?"
"Yeah - and in that case, you won't have any problem increasing it by thirty million next year. right?"
"Well, it was really just good timing. I don't think--"
"Hire some extra guys; if they don't deliver 30 million, we'll let them go."
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
The company will also scrap several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, which is expected to result in total charges of up to $200 million. It declined to name the projects that have been canceled .

Take-Two said the move is expected to drive more than $165 million of annual cost savings.

The company's shares were 1% higher in extended trading. They have fallen nearly 10% so far this year.

Take Two wants to do cost savings, huh?


NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive is paying its two top executives $72,350,718 this year — a number that could go far higher based on some factors, including an uptick in player microtransaction spending.

Driving the news:
The pay, disclosed in Take-Two's annual proxy filing to shareholders and offered as a mix of cash and stock, is more than double the execs' 2022 compensation of $30,040,000.

That sure saved a lot of money.


Joe not happy. Some might say, he's angry, even.

 

Perrott

Member
So the new Bioshock is cancelled I guess
I don't think so.

Such cancellation would bring the studio behind it down in its entirety, as Cloud Chamber was established specifically for them to work on this new BioShock, and we certainly would've heard about that by now if that had happened.
Take Two wants to do cost savings, huh?

That sure saved a lot of money.
I mean, Strauss Zelnick is one of, if not the, largest shareholders of Take-Two Interactive. You could pretty much say it's his company to some extent, so it's natural for the owner of any business to be the one individual that profits the most from their own organization.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
I mean, Strauss Zelnick is one of, if not the, largest shareholders of Take-Two Interactive. You could pretty much say it's his company to some extent, so it's natural for the owner of any business to be the one individual that profits the most from their own organization.

Sure, I don't necessarily disagree with that, but does that make it right? Does that make their PR virtue signaling any less disingenuous?
 

Perrott

Member
Sure, I don't necessarily disagree with that, but does that make it right? Does that make their PR virtue signaling any less disingenuous?
I mean, sure, one can always point at a certain level of hypocresy in regards to a company's actions and what their PR says.

But, honestly, the writing was on the wall for some of these layoffs. Take-Two often gives their developers too much rope, to the point that they sometimes hung themselves with it.

You can see that being the case with Mafia III developer Hangar 13 losing their way for half a decade after they were given the chance of taking a shot at a new IP, making bad creative calls that ultimately resulted in that project being canned, north of $100M dollars being wasted, and now that they're back on track, Mafia 4 would be arriving an entire decade after the launch of its predecessor in 2016.

Also, Michael Condrey of Call of Duty fame had it's new studio, 31st Union, founded five years ago under the 2K banner. They're said to be working on a multiplayer game of some sort, yet five years later they've had nothing to show for it. Similarly, Cloud Chamber, the developer behind the new BioShock, have been operating in various capacities for over six years now and, again, they have nothing to show for it.

Regardless of what business practices 2K executives may pressure them to shoehorn into their games, no upper management would ever micro-manage a studio to the point that they wouldn't be able to get any game operational enough at a design, systems and creative level to the point that the studio would have nothing to publicly show for it half a decade into development.

And this is also not a problem exclusive to Take-Two's lineup, but an epidemic that's been impacting pretty much all Western studio organizations to some extent - one example of it being how internal creative heads or studio level managers were responsible for Days Gone 2 or any other Bend Studio project not getting off the ground at all during the two-year period that followed the release of Days Gone in 2019.

And what I'm trying to say with all this is, well, to some extent each of the internal studios within these larger corporations have brought these mass layoffs onto themselves, for not being able to get their shit together and get stuff out the door or, alternatively, not rallying enough media attention around the clueless managers or problematic figures at their teams that were making it difficult to successfully move on with the development of their projects.

Because what's an undeniable fact, is that the software output of Take Two, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sony, and others, over the past 18 months have been nothing short of abysmal.
 
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StereoVsn

Member
Seems like if it was only 5% it wasn't necessary.

This company has literally printed money with Grand Theft Auto 5 & Online.

Return to office doesn't make sense for a lot of roles nowadays.

But rules is rules.
Don’t forget about 2K NBA and it’s MTX.

“In these tough economic conditions”, “value for the shareholders”, and other corpo bullshit.

How about execs get a salary cut as well?
 
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