Take-Two has "no current plans" for layoffs to reduce costs
"These measures are incremental to, and even more robust than, our prior cost reduction program."
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said the company, publisher of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has "no current plans" to layoff staff as it continues to pursue its cost reduction program.
Details of the cost reduction program were discussed by Zelnick during Take-Two's Q3 2024 financial report, which was released yesterday.
During the earnings call with investors, Zelnick said Take-Two is "currently working on a significant cost reduction program". A similar cost reduction program was announced by Take-Two in its third quarter report for 2023, which resulted in some layoffs last year.
Zelnick expanded on Take-Two's cost reduction plans this time around (in a statement sent to IGN), where he said the company has "no current plans" for layoffs. "The hardest thing to do is lay off colleagues," Zelnick stated.
The company is looking to tackle marketing, which Zelnick said is Take-Two's "biggest line item of expense", and also said there could be opportunities for cost-cutting in areas including third-party expenses, software, other vendors, and supply services. However, Zelnick stated the company hasn't "put any meat on the bones" of the plan yet.
In the earnings call, Zelnick said the planned measures are "incremental to, and even more robust than, our prior cost reduction program". The cost reduction program last year saw layoffs at Private Division (publisher of OlliOlli World and Kerbal Space Program) and Firaxis (developer of XCOM, Civilization, and Marvel's Midnight Suns).
Zelnick later credited moderate investments and a focus on efficiency as the reason Take-Two managed to avoid mass layoffs during the year.
Earlier this week, it emerged that layoffs have impacted Visual Concepts Austin, which is owned by Take-Two subsidiary 2K, though the exact number of affected people remains unclear.
Take-Two is currently involved in a lawsuit alleging unfair business practices surrounding virtual currencies within its online games. Take-Two responded to the allegations earlier this week by calling virtual currencies "fictions created by game publishers, subject to the publishers' terms of service and user agreements".