Take-Two Interactive is the parent company of studios such as GTA maker Rockstar Games.
San Francisco:
Take-Two Interactive told U.S. regulators on Tuesday it would lay off 5% of its workforce and cancel some video games in development to cut costs.
About 600 jobs are expected to be cut at Take-Two, the parent company of studios including Rockstar Games, the maker of the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto” series.
Take-Two said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is “rationalizing its pipeline, eliminating multiple projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will reduce headcount and reduce future hiring needs.”
Video game companies large and small have suffered layoffs since the pandemic ended, citing factors ranging from overhiring to economic woes.
The New York-based company had said it was working on a plan to reduce costs after disappointing earnings in the final three months of last year.
Take-Two lowered its financial outlook at the time, saying in its earnings report that the change reflected “weakness” it was experiencing in mobile advertising and its “NBA 2K24” basketball video game.
Take-Two owns mobile game maker Zynga.
According to financial reports, “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption” exceeded Take-Two’s expectations.
Millions of video game fans got their first look at Grand Theft Auto 6 in December, when a trailer was released promising the first female protagonist and the latest installment in one of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises. The issue date will be in 2025.
Fans have been waiting for a decade for news of a sequel to 2013’s GTA V, an industry phenomenon that has sold 190 million copies, making it the second-biggest game of all time behind Minecraft.
The GTA VI trailer focuses on a character named Lucia who has just been released from prison in a Florida-like setting, making her the first playable female character in the series, a character long known for It has been criticized for its depictions of women, minorities and LGBTQ people.
The trailer shows an alligator walking into a corner store, a woman writhing on the roof of a moving car, and the usual police raids and crimes already depicted in the game.
Online forums are abuzz after a trailer suggested Lucia would go on a crime spree with a male partner.
“Bonnie and Major Clyde vibes,” one Reddit user posted, referring to the 1930s bank-robbing couple who reveled in their notoriety.
According to Take-Two, the GTA series has sold 410 million copies since its launch in 1997.
The cost-cutting plan comes just weeks after Swedish video game group Embracer said it would sell Gearbox Entertainment, the developer of popular first-person shooter Borderlands, to Take-Two for $460 million.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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