Game publisher Take-Two Interactive has become the latest major game company to announce plans for mass layoffs. In a filing that the company made today to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it revealed it will lay off a total of 5 percent of its workforce by the end of 2024.
In addition to the layoffs, the filing stated that Take-Two would also cut “several projects in development”. The filing did not specify what games will be affected. Take-Two also said it has plans for “streamlining its organizational structure,”
The company stated that it will “incur approximately $160 million to $200 million in total charges” as part of this cutback. The majority of the charges will relate to the cancelation of titles, with $25 million to $35 million related to employee severances, and another $15 million to $25 million related to the closing of office space.
Just a few weeks ago, Take-Two announced it would purchase Gearbox Entertainment, and its lineup of games, for $460 million from The Embracer Group. The publisher releases games through a number of different brands, including 2K Games, 2K Sports, Private Division, and its mobile game company Zynga. Earlier this year, Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports developer studio, cut an unknown number of employees.
However, it’s the Rockstar Games division that remains its biggest group, thanks largely to the success of Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar is currently working on its latest game in the series, Grand Theft Auto VI, which is currently scheduled to launch for Sony’s PlayStation 5 console and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S consoles sometime in 2025.
Take-Two joins the long list of game publishers and developers who have initiated mass layoffs in 2024. They include Microsoft which cut 1,900 jobs in its gaming division earlier this year. Other layoffs have affected Sony’s PlayStation division which cut 900 members of its workforce a couple of months ago.