Company With ‘No Current Layoff Plans’ Announces Layoffs

On February 8, 2024, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said after an earnings call that "We have no current plans for layoffs".

Speaking in more detail with IGN, Zelnick said on February 8, 2024 that Take-Two was "currently working on a significant cost reduction program across our entire business to maximize our margins":

When asked if that plan would indeed include layoffs, Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN ahead of the earnings call that the company has "no current plans" for that, although they're still working out the specifics.

"We haven't put any meat on the bones of that yet," Zelnick said of the cost reduction plan. "I would just note that our biggest line item of expense is actually marketing. We do think we can optimize that. We also have third-party expenses, software, other vendors, supply services. And we always find opportunity there. The hardest thing to do is to lay off colleagues, and we have no current plans."

Today, April 16, 2024, Take-Two announced layoffs. As Reuters report:

Take-Two Interactive Software will lay off about 5% of its workforce, or around 600 employees, the publisher of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise said on Tuesday, as the video-gaming industry extends its more than two-year long job cuts.

The company will also scrap several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, which is expected to result in total charges of up to $200 million. It declined to name the projects that have been canceled .

Take-Two said the move is expected to drive more than $165 million of annual cost savings.

The company's shares were 1% higher in extended trading.

The company's shares were 1% higher in extended trading.