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After making $8.5 billion from GTA 5 and saying it had 'no current plans' for layoffs, GTA 6 publisher announces nearly 600 layoffs and $140 million in canceled projects

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of GTA 6, is laying off 5% of its workforce and canceling several projects in a cost-cutting move. The move comes despite the success of GTA 5, one of the industry's greatest cash cows. The layoffs have raised concerns about the potential impact on the development of GTA 6, which is already facing delays. The layoffs are part of a larger trend of job cuts in the video game industry, following the pandemic boom.

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GTA 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive has announced it's laying off 5% of its workforce and canceling several projects.

Per Bloomberg, Take-Two revealed in an end-of-business SEC filing a plan to save itself more than 165millionannuallydueto"reductionsinitsexistingexpensebaseandloweredprojectedexpensegrowthforthecomingyears."Intheprocess,it′llincurupto165 million annually due to "reductions in its existing expense base and lowered projected expense growth for the coming years." In the process, it'll incur up to 200 million in charges, the majority of which - up to 140million−isrelatedtothecancelationofprojects,whileanother140 million - is related to the cancelation of projects, while another 25 million to $35 million is related to employee severance and related costs. Take-Two is also reducing its office space as part of the plan.

Back in February, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the company had "no current plans" to undergo layoffs. To see this turnaround is particularly galling, not least because in GTA 5, Take-Two owns one of the industry's greatest cash-cows - Rockstar's game has made at least $8.5 billion since its release in 2013.

Of course, the elephant in the room is what will happen to GTA 6, and although it's safe to say the highly anticipated sequel is not one of the canceled projects, it's possible the reduction in workforce could negatively impact its development. A recent report suggested GTA 6 could be delayed from 2025 to 2026 due to a lag in development, and if nothing else, layoffs alone wouldn't do much to help remedy the situation.

In March, Take-Two acquired Borderlands developer Gearbox for $460 million, and GTA 6 is expected to be one of the most successful games of all time. Regardless, it's now contributing to the staggering number of layoffs hitting the video game industry following the pandemic boom, including at Microsoft, EA, Sony, Riot, and more.

*Meanwhile, *Baldur's Gate 3 boss has told layoff-happy publishers to stop trying to "double" their money and instead "respect the people making the games."