GTA 6 Parent Company To Cancel Games And Lay Off 5% Of Staff

After saying earlier this year that its impending cost reduction program wouldn't include layoffs, GTA parent company Take-Two has revealed that it will be cutting its workforce by approximately 5% throughout this year. The company also said it would be cancelling some unspecified projects as part of the cost reductions.

According to a filing with the United States SEC, the Take-Two board of directors has just approved its cost reduction plan. The plan will focus on "eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs."

Take-Two estimates that enacting the plan will cost it around $160 to $200 million, with costs relating to title cancellations, employee severance, and reductions in the company's office space. The plan is expected to affect around 5% of Take-Two's workforce, approximately 600 employees.

Take-Two hasn't said whether specific departments or subsidiaries might be affected by the layoffs and project cancellations. Take-Two recently acquired Borderlands developer Gearbox from Embracer Group, another major video game company that's been engaging in cost-cutting measures after a period of rapid expansion.

CEO Strauss Zelnick and president Karl Slatoff both sold a significant amount of Take-Two stock on April 12, ahead of the announcement of the finalized cost-cutting plan. According to documents filed with the SEC, Zelnick and Slatoff each sold off roughly $13 million worth of Take-Two stock at the end of last week. The sales were made as part of a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which allows for insiders at publicly traded companies to sell their stocks.

In a similar cost-cutting measure in March last year, Take-Two laid off an unspecified number of employees, mostly working in non-developmental positions within Private Division and other divisions of Take-Two.

The games industry at large has seen huge numbers of layoffs in the last year, with 2024 so far proving to be even worse for it than 2023 was.