Take Two Interactive (Rockstar, 2K, Private Division) canceling games, ending projects and laying off 5% of its workforce

[Xindar]

According to Geoff Keighley on Twitter, Take Two Interactive (including Rockstar, 2K and Private Division) announced it will lay off about 5% of its workforce, cancel games and end projects.

I hope this doesn't include KSP2 or anybody from the dev team.

Source

[Well]

[PDCWolf]

After the brand damage that was firing Paul Furio, the engineering lead of a project that had just gone under the public eye, I doubt we'll know anything unless they actually axe the project, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Imma link a more in-depth analysis that I agree with, and why I believe this project isn't affected. TL;DR they bought Gearbox but fired people they didn't need, on top of gearbox firing their own earlier this year.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/a-double-take-on-take-twos-layoffs-this-week-in-business

[pk9sp]

a couple updates

(from https://esd.wa.gov/about-employees/WARN)

[Scarecrow71]

37 minutes ago, pk9sp said:

a couple updates

(from https://esd.wa.gov/about-employees/WARN)

Well, gonna be hard for the company to tell us KSP2 isn't impacted by the layoffs in the event this is true.

[MechBFP]

1 minute ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Well, gonna be hard for the company to tell us KSP2 isn't impacted by the layoffs in the event this is true.

Telemetry and service data sounds very much like launcher type stuff.

[Scarecrow71]

1 minute ago, MechBFP said:

Telemetry and service data sounds very much like launcher type stuff.

I'm not a game developer, so I can't comment on what Wes was doing.  Or what kind of impact it has.  I can only state that, if it is true, there is a direct impact on KSP2 regardless of what the company wants to tell us.

[TickleMyMary]

1 hour ago, pk9sp said:

 

 

So, just to be clear... They're letting 70 staff go and/or closing the studio? It's seems that it's a legal requirement to register this information so, if true, this is devastating for the game and the studio... Like game over devastating.

[Yakuzi]

27 minutes ago, MechBFP said:

Telemetry and service data sounds very much like launcher type stuff.

You might want to have a closer look at the top image, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department the Take Two Seattle branch (with 70 employees) is marked for closure.

 

2 minutes ago, TickleMyMary said:

 

So, just to be clear... They're letting 70 staff go and/or closing the studio? It's seems that it's a legal requirement to register this information so, if true, this is devastating for the game and the studio... Like game over devastating.

Yes, that's what it appears like...

Edited May 1 by Yakuzi

[Flush Foot]

[Scarecrow71]

11 minutes ago, TickleMyMary said:

 

So, just to be clear... They're letting 70 staff go and/or closing the studio? It's seems that it's a legal requirement to register this information so, if true, this is devastating for the game and the studio... Like game over devastating.

My thoughts exactly.  I know we keep hearing that the game is fully funded, and that velocity is good, and they are full steam ahead.  But an office marked for closure, with one of the devs literally stating he was let go, on top of the continued subterfuge with patch release dates and milestone updates?  Not good.

[PDCWolf]

On 4/17/2024 at 11:41 AM, Nerdy_Mike said:

Development of KSP2 is full speed ahead. 

I can't speak to any of the reported news, but the team here is working hard on the next update as well as colonies.

You might want to provide a proper update on this. I know you did not make any statement but you will still look... untruthful.

[Flush Foot]

9 minutes ago, PDCWolf said:

You might want to provide a proper update on this. I know you did not make any statement but you will still look... untruthful.

Given that Mike’s comment was a week+ ago and the Washington State-Gov’t page showed “info registered yesterday*”, I don’t feel (myself anyways) as if Mike was dishonest, only that he maybe didn’t have the latest info.

But yes please, more info plz!

[TickleMyMary]

4 minutes ago, Flush Foot said:

Given that Mike’s comment was a week+ ago and the Washington State-Gov’t page showed “info registered yesterday*”, I don’t feel (myself anyways) as if Mike was dishonest, only that he maybe didn’t have the latest info.

 

Internal discussions would have been had way before they informed the government... I stand by this news being released to the studio back when they took a break and came back to weeks of "sprint planning" that we've seen zero evidence of.

I think the game is cooked at this point... They've basically silent quit the last few months anyway.

Edited May 1 by TickleMyMary

[MechBFP]

That office closure is certainly of interest although doesn't mean anything in and of itself unless someone here has actual knowledge of all their work locations in Seattle.

[RileyHef]

2 minutes ago, MechBFP said:

That office closure is certainly of interest although doesn't mean anything in and of itself unless someone here has actual knowledge of all their work locations in Seattle.

The only confirmation of T2's presence in Seattle that has been found so far has been... Private Division. Seems reasonable to guess they are about the size of 70, too.

If I were a betting man, I'd say it is over.

[MechBFP]

3 minutes ago, RileyHef said:

The only confirmation of T2's presence in Seattle that has been found so far has been... Private Division. Seems reasonable to guess they are about the size of 70, too.

If I were a betting man, I'd say it is over.

Given that they have acknowledged that people are (or rather were, given the news) working on a 2nd unannounced game, seems more likely to be related to that.

Edited May 1 by MechBFP

[Flush Foot]

13 hours ago, MechBFP said:

Given that they have acknowledged that people are (or rather were now, probably) working on a 2nd unannounced game, seems more likely to be related to that.

I will sleep tonight in the hope that this is the case, but I’m definitely starting to worry that endless “patience” and ‘trust’ might be coming to naught .

Edit: I did not sleep well last night [had weird dreams of troubling forum-alerts being directly visible in my phone's notifications and so checked the forums around 3:30 am, and was then awake/reading it and then Reddit until close to 5 am ]

Edited May 1 by Flush Foot

[Scarecrow71]

8 minutes ago, RileyHef said:

The only confirmation of T2's presence in Seattle that has been found so far has been... Private Division. Seems reasonable to guess they are about the size of 70, too.

If I were a betting man, I'd say it is over.

I did a search, and I found a studio called Cat Daddy games.  They are affiliated with 2K, and are focused on mobile sports games.

While I doubt Cat Daddy is the target here, it is a possibility.

[MechBFP]

3 minutes ago, Scarecrow71 said:

I did a search, and I found a studio called Cat Daddy games.  They are affiliated with 2K, and are focused on mobile sports games.

While I doubt Cat Daddy is the target here, it is a possibility.

Hard to say, technically that is located in Kirkland, which is a suburb of Seattle.

[DoomsdayDuck555]

there's around 70 people working on ksp 2, right?

[Great Liao]

2 minutes ago, DoomsdayDuck555 said:

there's around 70 people working on ksp 2, right?

Yes, and it's entirely possible that the game just got cancelled... I hope not, but looks like i should have bought ksp1 last month.

[DoomsdayDuck555]

Womp womp

[RileyHef]

6 minutes ago, Scarecrow71 said:

I did a search, and I found a studio called Cat Daddy games.  They are affiliated with 2K, and are focused on mobile sports games.

While I doubt Cat Daddy is the target here, it is a possibility.

Looks like they cover dev of 2 mobile games for the WWE and the NBA. Can't imagine they would close those out as those mobile sports games seem to be easy money maakers with minimal effort needed. I think it's PD.

[Emanuel01]

Devastating news. I’ve been following this game since the announcement.
I used to open the forums searching for some scarce news every week or so. It made my day when the devs released something.

It feels like a miscarriage.