Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two lays off hundreds, axes several projects

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the massively popular Grand Theft Auto series, has announced a roughly five percent reduction of its workforce.

In addition to GTA, Take-Two’s portfolio includes NBA 2K, BioShock, Civilization and PGA Tour 2K(from Lunenberg, Nova Scotia’s HB Studios).

In an April 16th SEC filing, Take-Two says it’s “streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs.” This is part of the company’s goal to reduce annual costs by at least $165 million USD (about $228 million CAD).

Take-Two is a particularly notable example, however, given that it’s preparing to launch subsidiary Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI next year.

Nonetheless, the company claims it needs to cut costs now by laying people off without, of course, taking other actions .

In a February earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick even claimed that there were “no current plans” to lay people off which, of course, quickly proved to be untrue.