Summary
- Take-Two CEO denies closure rumors for Roll7 and Intercept Games amidst cost reduction plan.
- Internal documentation hinted at studio closures, but CEO clarifies no shuttering happened.
- Uncertainty looms over the future of Intercept Games and Roll7 as cost-cutting measures are pursued.
Take-Two’s CEO has responded to rumors about game studios Roll7 and Intercept Games being closed down. Rumors about the closure of OlliOlli World developer Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games had arisen amid the announcement of spending cuts.
Take-Two made an announcement earlier this month about a cost reduction plan. At the same time, internal documentation arose that appeared to confirm the closing of gaming studios Roll7 and Intercept Games. Now, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has responded to these rumors.
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As reported by IGN, an announcement made earlier this month outlined a cost reduction plan with project cancellations, layoffs of 5% of employees, and other spending cuts. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that this amounts to savings of $165 million in existing and future costs. Amid this announcement came a WARN Act notice and internal documentation that seemed to confirm the closing of Roll7 and Intercept Games. When asked about the closure, Zelnick responded by saying, "We didn't shutter those studios" which is somewhat confusing given how definitive the WARN Act notice and the internal documentation seemed about the closure.
Take-Two CEO Responds to Rumors about Studio Closures
The WARN Act notice for Intercept Games in Seattle indicated the layoff of 70 people. Take-Two might have folded these studios into Private Division since that company will be in charge of Kerbal Space Program 2 maintenance moving forward. However, when questioned whether Private Division itself was in some kind of trouble, Strauss Zelnick commented, "We just tend to leave those announcements to the label, so we're not trying to be cute or difficult today.”
Previously, Zelnick had stated that the company was in "growth-mode" and that they had "no current plans" for layoffs. While discussing the state of the industry post-pandemic, he noted that other companies laying off employees had gotten "a little fat and happy during the pandemic" and had overspent because of this. He now admits that Take-Two is in that same boat to a certain degree, which brings us to the cost-cutting program the company is now pursuing and the possible closure of OlliOlli World developer Roll7 and Intercept Games.
The future for Intercept Games and Roll7 seems uncertain. This is not the first time Take-Two has done this way with a Kerbal Space Program developer. In 2020, a studio called Star Theory was developing Kerbal Space Program 2 when Take-Two’s Private Division suddenly took the game away from it. Some employees managed to find a place at Intercept Games, but others were left pitching new projects to try to save the studio, to no avail as it was later closed down.
- Date Founded
- September 30, 1993
- Subsidiaries
- Rockstar Games, 2K Games, Zynga, Firaxis Games