Take-Two Interactive is reportedly planning on closing down two Private Division studios, Roll7 and Intercept Games, as part of a company restructure. Roll7 is best known for developing Rollerdrome and OlliOlli World while Intercept Games developed Kerbal Space Program 2.
According to a recent report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, both Roll7 and Intercept Games are apparently being shut down as part of Take-Two’s cost-cutting measures, resulting in the layoffs of 5% of its overall workforce or nearly 600 employees. This includes employees at Roll7 and Intercept Games, which are both shutting its doors soon as a result of the restructure. However, a spokesperson for Take-Two told Game Developer that work will continue on Kerbal Space Program 2 despite the layoffs and studio closing down.
The spokesperson commented:
“As part of these efforts, the company is rationalizing its pipeline and eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs. The company is not providing additional details on this program. The label continues to make updates to Kerbal Space Program 2 and plans to release Wētā Workshop Game Studio’s Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game in the second half of 2024.”
Take-Two recently splurged on the purchase of Borderlands studio Gearbox Software for $460 million, making these layoffs quite an unusual decision. The company also raised the monthly subscription price for GTA+ by 40% after it added the Red Dead Redemption remaster to its library.
Work pushes forward on the highly anticipated GTA 6 in development at Take-Two’s Rockstar Games. There’s a lot of pressure for Rockstar to deliver on the project as analysts previously called it “the most important [game] to ever release in the industry.” Given the astronomical sales of GTA V, GTA 6 is positioned to make a killing at launch and possibly become one of the highest-selling video games of all time.
Source: Bloomberg
