'Grand Theft Auto' Parent Take-Two Interactive Confirms Layoffs: Non-Development Jobs In Jeopardy

Video game company Take-Two Interactive TTWO is cutting staff.

The parent company of well-known game developers such as Rockstar Games, 2K Games, Private Division and Zynga confirmed the layoffs to Bloomberg News.

Spokesman Alan Lewis says the cuts "will better align our organization with our long-term priorities" and that the impact on dev teams is "minimal.’”

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The “Grand Theft Auto” and "Red Dead Redemption" publisher did not announce exactly how many employees were affected.

Lewis confirmed that the layoffs will affect mostly U.S.-based teams.

The layoffs are not exactly a surprise. In February, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, mentioned the possibility of job cuts as part of the company’s $50 million cost-reduction program. The cost-reduction program would primarily focus on corporate and publishing functions, including personnel, processes, and infrastructure, Zelnick said, downplaying the scale of the cuts.

"It's not as though we guarantee lifetime employment sadly," Zelnick said at the time. "So there will be certain instances where jobs will be lost, but I think that will be pretty modest."

"We can confirm that there have been targeted reductions in our US teams, primarily in corporate operations and label publishing, which will better align our organization with our long-term priorities," Lewis told Gamespot.

And added: "We continue to make strategic investments in our talent and technology to deliver our long-term pipeline, and the impact of these changes on our U.S. development teams has been minimal. Outside of the US, we have begun procedures in compliance with local law that we anticipate may result in similar reductions. Take-Two has experienced exponential growth in recent years, and we are taking these necessary steps to position the company for another extended period of success."

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