Update #3 [Thu 7th Nov, 2024 01:05 GMT]:
Following the update on the sale of Private Division, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has noted the following:
Take-Two Interactive has now confirmed that it did, in fact, close subsidiaries Roll7 and Intercept. In May, following Bloomberg's report that the studios were closed, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, "We didn't shutter those studios, to be clear."
Update #2 [Wed 29th May, 2024 05:35 BST]:
Although the Take-Two CEO mentioned how Intercept Games and Roll7 haven't been shut down, it seems a layoff is on the way.
As highlighted in a LinkedIn update of a senior programmer at Intercept Games (Kerbel Space Program 2), employees will be let go next month (via VGC):
"The team at Intercept Games will be laid off as of June 28th so a great group will be out and about looking for their new roles."
If there are other developments about this studio or Roll7, we'll let you know.
Update #1 [Fri 17th May, 2024 01:05 BST]:
Following Bloomberg's report earlier this month, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has now shared an update, claiming the company hasn't closed these studios. Here's the full statement, courtesy of IGN:
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick: "We didn't shutter those studios, to be clear. And we are always looking at our release schedule across all of our studios to make sure that it makes sense. So we are being very judicious because we are in the middle of a cost reduction program that we've already concluded and are now fully rolling out. We've announced that we're saving $165 million in existing and future costs, but we haven't shuttered anything."
However, when asked if Zelnick was "denying the reports" about Roll7 and the Kerbal Space Program developer Intercept, Take-Two's PR stepped in:
"What we've said is, in the 8-K filing that we put out we talked about the cost reduction plan is approximately 5% reduction in headcount worldwide, but we did not give a label-by-label breakdown of what that looks like...We have not provided any additional color beyond what I just said."
Bloomberg's reporter Jason Schreier has also released part of the documentation obtained earlier this month:
If we hear any other developments, we'll let you know.
Original article [Thu 2nd May, 2024 03:30 BST]:
There's already been a record amount of job losses within the games industry this year and it seems this trend is unfortunately set to continue with Bloomberg reporting the closure of another two studios.
According to "documentation reviewed by Bloomberg", Take-Two Interactive Software has announced it will be shutting down the Private Division and London-based subsidiary Roll7 (OlliOlli, Rollerdrome) and the Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games, which is located in Seattle.
"The first outfit is London-based Roll7, developer of the action game Rollerdrome, according to a note to staff. Take-Two plans to close the studio and will offer severance agreements to its staff.
"The other is Seattle-based Intercept Games, maker of the space flight simulation game Kerbal Space Program 2, according to a notice filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department Monday. The notice revealed that Take-Two plans to close an office in Seattle and cut 70 jobs, or roughly the number of people who worked for Intercept Games."
Take-Two's vice president for communications says Kerbal Space Program 2 will continue to receive updates.
This latest round of layoffs follows on from many other similar stories this year including some bigger and smaller cases - from mass layoffs at Microsoft and Sony to project cancellations at smaller teams.