Take-Two has laid off an undisclosed number of Private Division employees, according to Bloomberg. Publisher Private Division is known for several popular games like Hades, Kerbal Space Program and OlliOlli World. Take-Two says these cuts “will better align our organization with our long-term priorities.”
Private Division layoffs could signal further layoffs at Take-Two
Video game publisher Take-Two is today laying off people from its Private Division label and other divisions, sources told Bloomberg. Spokesman Alan Lewis said the cuts would “better align our organization with our long-term priorities” and the impact on development teams is “minimal”.
—Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 7, 2023
In addition to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, GamesIndustry.biz confirmed the news, and a Take-Two company spokesperson revealed that these cuts were aimed at US teams. The representative said:
We can confirm that there have been specific reductions in our US teams, primarily in enterprise operations and tag publishing… (T) The impact of these changes on our US development teams has been minimal.
Take-Two also confirms that it expects more layoffs “outside the United States.” and says these are “necessary steps to position the company for another long period of success”.
The layoffs coincide with the February 24 release of Kerbal Space Program 2, which has had “mixed” reception so far based on user reviews on Steam.
This follows disappointing third-quarter 2022 results for Take-Two, which in February announced a cost-cutting program that would cut more than $50 million from annual expenses. So, in all likelihood, we’ll see more reductions in Take-Two’s gaming divisions in the near future.
Private Division has around nine games in its portfolio (at least as far as we know) that have yet to be released, including a new Lord of the Rings game and a new horror game featuring Bloober Team.
Some users who reacted to Schreier’s tweet say these Take-Two layoffs are in the works for Sony to eventually acquire the publishing giant, but that’s probably not the case.