Take Two Interactive has now confirmed a report that suggests the massive company behind the Grand Theft Auto series will look to ‘reduce costs’ by utilizing layoffs.
It’s only March, and so far there have been MANY reports of mass layoffs at tech companies. There have been thousands of employees affected by layoffs, including companies like Microsoft, Google, Disney, and a Nintendo commitment to give employees 10% raises. Take Two Interactive has now confirmed a report penned by Jason Schreier on Twitter that the company will be laying off people on Tuesday, with “minimal impact.”
In Take Two’s financial earnings report for Q3 2023, under their “Cost Reduction Program,” they state “the Company is implementing a cost reduction program expected to yield over $50 million of annual savings,” the company has listed “personnel, processes, infrastructure, and other areas, and will primarily focus on corporate and publishing functions” as the framework for the expected $50 million in savings.
A spokesperson for Take Two, Alan Lewis, spoke to Game Developer confirming the layoffs saying, “We can confirm that there have been targeted reductions in our US teams, primarily in corporate operations and label publishing, which will better align our organization with our long-term priorities,” with a further explanation of “We continue to make strategic investments in our talent and technology to deliver our long-term pipeline, and the impact of these changes on our U.S. development teams has been minimal. […] Take-Two has experienced exponential growth in recent years, and we are taking these necessary steps to position the company for another extended period of success.”
Despite the initial report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, and the confirmation of that report by Alan Lewis, it remains to be seen how far the rabbit hole goes on this latest round of tech layoffs. While the Private Division label has already confirmed to receive layoffs, Schreier reported “other divisions” as well, so fans will just have to wait and see how this develops over the next week.
