GTA 6 parent company cancels $140 million in projects amid brutal layoffs

In sad news, the industry is once again suffering cuts, cancellations, and job losses, this time from GTAVI parent company, Take-Two.

While no official statement has been made to the public, the company filed paperwork with the United States Security and Exchange Commission on 16 April seeking to implement a ‘cost reduction program.’

GTAVI is due to arrive next year from Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two

As part of this program, Take-Two looks to save between $160 million to $200 million by cancelling projects and, unfortunately, cutting staff.

According to the paperwork filed an explanation is given as “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 making cuts across various departments including “$120 million to $140 million related to title cancellations, and approximately $15 million to $25 million related to office space reductions.”

Of course, the cuts will impact staff the hardest as Take-Two announced that “approximately $25 million to $35 million associated with employee severance and employee-related costs” meaning the company will attempt to reduce the workforce by around 5%.

This would mean around 579 employees could lose their jobs or start to receive notice of their roles being cut completely in another horrible move within the industry.

This news arrives after several months of companies restructuring and cutting staff including Twitch, Naughty Dog, Riot Games, and Unity, proving that no matter how successful games are, jobs can still be impacted.

It’s hard to see any staff members lose their jobs, but it’s particularly tough when the games they produce are making billions of dollars and shareholders and top-level executives are banking bonuses totalling millions of dollars.

As Swen Vincke from Larian Studios, creators of Baldur’s Gate 3, notes to Eurogamer, “Greed has been f**king this whole thing up for so long, since I started.”