Take-Two has laid off an undisclosed number of employees at Private Division, according to Bloomberg. Publisher Private Division is known for multiple popular games like Hades, Kerbal Space Program, and OlliOlli World. Take-Two says that these cuts “will better align our organization with our long-term priorities.”
Private Division layoffs could signal other layoffs at Take-Two
Video game publisher Take-Two is laying people off today in its Private Division label and other divisions, sources tell Bloomberg. Spokesman Alan Lewis says the cuts "will better align our organization with our long-term priorities" and that the impact on dev teams is "minimal."
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 7, 2023
In addition to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, GamesIndustry.biz has confirmed the news, with a Take-Two company spokesperson revealing that these cuts target US teams. The representative said:
We can confirm that there have been targeted reductions in our US teams, primarily in corporate operations and label publishing… [T]he impact of these changes on our US development teams has been minimal.
Take-Two also confirms that it anticipates further layoffs “outside of the US” and says that these are “necessary steps to position the company for another extended period of success.”
These layoffs coincide with the February 24 release of Kerbal Space Program 2, which has a “mixed” reception thus far based on user reviews on Steam.
It allow follows disappointing Q3 2022 results for Take-Two, which in February announced a cost reduction program that would cut more than $50 million in annual spending. So in all likelihood, we’ll see more cuts across Take-Two’s gaming divisions in the near future.
Private Division has about nine games in its portfolio (that we know of at least) that have not been released yet, including a new Lord of the Rings game and a new horror game with Bloober Team.
Some users reacting to Schreier’s tweet claim that these Take-Two layoffs are in preparation for Sony possibly acquiring the publisher giant, but this is probably not the case.
