As part of the company’s restructuring, job losses are announced for both the New York and U.K. Take-Two offices.
Take-Two Interactive representatives told GamesIndustry.biz that their New York offices will be closed and staff is being made redundant at the British branch due to the corporate reorganization and recent revenue decrease.
Public relations advisor Ed Nebb explained, “The 2K New York office will be closed as part of the consolidation of the label’s management and other functional operations on the West Coast. We have reduced the publishing staff connection with the reorganisation, although we have not disclosed the final number of positions affected. It’s important to note that the goal of the reorganisation is not merely cost-efficiency, but about allowing Take-Two to do what it does best – create great, best-selling games.”
Projects that were still in the incubation stage have most likely been axed, but major announcements such as LA Noire or Beaterator will be moved to other studios. “We have extensively reviewed the products in our pipeline. While we are comfortable with the economic assumptions underlying most of the titles, we did write off several products in development that were planned for release beyond fiscal 2007.. As you surmise, the projects written off were early works in progress, not major titles,” added Nebb.
In England, the marketing and public relations departments took the brunt of the losses. “While some marketing and PR positions were eliminated in the UK, others were transferred to specific labels, such as 2K. … This approach is consistent across our international operations.”
