GTA publisher Take-Two is laying off five percent of staff, a few months after saying it had 'no current plans' for layoffs

2024 continues to be an awful year for employees within the games industry, as Take-Two Interactive has joined the long list of companies laying off staff.

In an April 16 filing, Take-Two laid out its plans for its cost reduction program, which it hopes will “enhance the Company’s margin profile, while still investing for growth.” This plan is expected to be complete by the end of 2024, and will see its workforce reduced by five percent. That may not sound like a lot, but considering Take-Two employs 11,580 people (as of 2023), that means approximately 579 people will be losing their jobs.

Take-Two also mentions cancelling an unspecified number of titles, which is estimated to cost the company $120 million to $140 million (roughly £96 million to £112 million). Combined with costs related to employee severance and office space reductions, Take-Two estimates the whole plan will incur approximately $160 million to $200 million (about £128 million to 160 million) in total charges.

Take-Two had already talked about reducing costs earlier this year but, in February, CEO Strauss Zelnick had said there were “no current plans” to fire staff, adding, “The hardest thing to do is to lay off colleagues.”

While this is obviously an effort to save money, it’s difficult to imagine Take-Two is in any sort of dire straits financially. Take-Two is a highly valued publisher, and is also the same company that released Grand Theft Auto 5, which has made over $8.5 billion (roughly £6.8 billion) since its 2013 release. It’s easily one of the most successful video games in recent memory.

Plus, Take-Two had enough money lying around to buy out Borderlands developer Gearbox just last month, and will be releasing Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025. That game is expected to be a massive money-maker for the company given how hotly anticipated it’s been.

Meanwhile, layoffs have run rampant through the industry throughout 2024. Major companies like Electronic Arts, Unity, Microsoft, and Sony have all announced layoffs.