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

[Yakuzi]

On 5/6/2024 at 1:42 AM, Jaypeg said:

I agree with most of your arguments

That's nice. You failed again to provide the sources of your previous claims though:

1. "The former Uber Entertainment CEO has been in charge of KSP2 development over the last 4 years"
2. "The Uber Entertainment CEO was fired"

Also, you haven't answered this question:

• Which three leaders made the jump from Uber entertainment to PD/Take Two immediately? Be sure to include your sources.

 

Edited May 9 by Yakuzi

[Jaypeg]

On 5/6/2024 at 9:59 AM, MechBFP said:

Apparently not enough eh?

no, like, genuinely really really profitable. Too profitable for it to just be shutdown. OlliOlli made a LOT of money

[Pthigrivi]

On 5/6/2024 at 5:58 AM, K^2 said:

Not particularly, unfortunately. Take Two and Private Division gain very little from providing additional information. Better to say nothing, and have people suspect, than speak up and lose the element of doubt kind of situation.

However, if T2/PD already gave up on the game completely, I think they'd just say so. The fact that the official statement (the whole two sentences of it) suggests that KSP2 is still considered in development suggests that they're going to be looking for a new developer.

In that case, the next update will probably be telling us that a <Studio Name> has taken over the development. That could be months from now, though.

Well thats actually more hopeful than I'd dared to be. I mean you do see properties like Baldur's Gate bounce around before they find their true home. It'll be years before we see something real but I'd been expecting another 2 years before 1.0 anyway. Whats another 5 or 10? Maybe it'll come out around the same time as ES6.

Edited May 8 by Pthigrivi

[MARL_Mk1]

So this is how it's going to be huh... just corporate radio silence.

This all has felt so stupidly awkward.

How come the studios that were laid off by Microsoft were able to immediately announce it, yet studios laid off by Take Two are required to go completely off the grid until further notice?

Genuine curiosity. I just don't really mind anymore, as it feels like the weird silence that settles after a bad joke.

Edited May 10 by MARL_Mk1

[K^2]

On 5/8/2024 at 2:32 PM, Jaypeg said:

no, like, genuinely really really profitable. Too profitable for it to just be shutdown. OlliOlli made a LOT of money

Yeah, it's not so much about how much money the studio can make, but about how much money it can be making in the nearest future. If a studio made a ton of money in the past, but has just released a game and will release the next one in 3-4 years, they'll still get the axe.

The problem is that over the past few years, borrowing money was basically free for large businesses. If you weren't borrowing to open up a studio and spin up another project, you were leaving money on the table. Over the past year and a half or so, the fed rates climbed to a fairly high level. Suddenly, all these studios aren't free anymore - you're paying significant interest against the money you've borrowed, and anything that's not generating revenue right now basically becomes a significant drain.

Consequently studios get cut left and right despite the publishers taking in a lot of money from sales. The only real conclusion we can make about the IG situation is that nobody expected them to release a polished, revenue-generating game within a year or so. And we sort of knew that from the state of Early Access. There's a game there, but it's not ready for the main marketing push, and won't be ready soon enough to offset the ongoing development costs if you have to pay interest on it.

It's hard to say what exactly this means for the future of KSP2 without looking at the overall cash flow of T2, and hey, look at that, earnings call is coming up in a few days. They'll probably talk about IG and R7, but even if not, based on what they have in flight, what's bringing in money, and how much is going to the studios they currently have operating, we'll be able to get an idea of how much money T2 has to spend on smaller projects. Two likely possibilities is that either a) they've cut enough to have a small stream to afford a smaller 3rd party studio to take on KSP2 or b) they are waiting for some upcoming releases to bring in more cash. At the latest, we're looking GTA VI release, as that will inject a lot of capital to spend on other projects. That would mean development resuming in 2025-2026, though, with v1.0 coming in in 2026-2028? But unless the game just straight up gets canceled, which right now it doesn't sound like it will be, that's the worst case scenario. A lot of things can speed it up, and there might be a smaller studio PD is already talking to in regards to KSP2. We should have some idea soon.

There is a grim possibility that KSP2 is already effectively canceled, and T2 just didn't want to make the announcement before the earnings call. In that case, we'll also know about it soon. I don't think it's the most likely scenario, but I'd be remiss not to acknowledge it.

[Ryaja]

1 hour ago, MARL_Mk1 said:

How come the studios that were laid off by Microsoft were able to immediately announce it, yet studios laid off by Take Two are required to go completely off the grid until further notice?

#1 different policy, #2 they're not technically laid off yet. They will be in June. So they still have to keep financial details under wraps.

[sturmhauke]

55 minutes ago, Ryaja said:

#2 they're not technically laid off yet. They will be in June.

This is common in the tech industry, especially games. Legally, they're still employees until the end of the notice period. Practically, most of them will have been required to clean out their desks etc., although generally they get their severance pay as a lump sum and can still begin work elsewhere as soon as they are able.

[K^2]

4 hours ago, MARL_Mk1 said:

How come the studios that were laid off by Microsoft were able to immediately announce it, yet studios laid off by Take Two are required to go completely off the grid until further notice?

Part of it is state and country laws. I believe, only Arkane Austin was covered by WARN, and they did get their notice, while terminations at Alpha Dog and Tango might have been immediate. I'm not familiar with applicable Canadian or Japanese laws. The other part is that earnings call is coming up for T2, and they might want to hold any PR until that point in time. Finally, there might be a reason they can't legally close IG or R7 right now, in which case, they'd have to be careful about how it's publicized.

[Skorj]

It just ... really sucks being ghosted by someone you had a relationship with, even a gamer-studio relationship.

[K^2]

24 minutes ago, Skorj said:

It just ... really sucks being ghosted by someone you had a relationship with, even a gamer-studio relationship.

I feel that, but that's why they call this a parasocial relationship. It's not a two-way street. At some point, you realize that you are investing into this relationship, and they are just treating it as a commodity. You are worth more. You deserve better.

Also, a pint of ice cream totally helps, and I think we've all earned it.

[Flush Foot]

3 hours ago, K^2 said:

a parasocial relationship

What was that? A parasitic social relationship?

[Fizzlebop Smith]

11 minutes ago, Flush Foot said:

What was that? A parasitic social relationship?

(I believe)

It is when an individual / or group from a *relationship* with someone that is unknown.

Anonymous, or entity comprised of many...

The relationship is a two-way street of communication. Built on a perception of trust.

Most relationships require trust as a two-way street. In a para-social relationship that trust is largely one-side.

Edited May 10 by Fizzlebop Smith

[sturmhauke]

5 hours ago, Flush Foot said:

What was that? A parasitic social relationship?

5 hours ago, Fizzlebop Smith said:

(I believe)

It is when an individual / or group from a *relationship* with someone that is unknown.

Anonymous, or entity comprised of many...

The relationship is a two-way street of communication. Built on a perception of trust.

Most relationships require trust as a two-way street. In a para-social relationship that trust is largely one-side.

"Para-" means "next to". "Parasite" is from Greek and originally meant "next to (someone else's) meal", with the connotation of freeloading off of someone else (i.e. eating their food). "Parasocial" was coined partly by analogy, to describe this kind of one-sided relationship.

[Minmus Taster]

Worth listening to, interestingly Matt reached out to Nate to ask if he could say anything and he more or less just said what the others have been saying; "Can't talk now, maybe later".

[Mutex]

His wording was more like "I'm very much looking forward to talking when I can", quoted from memory. Reading between the lines, maybe he's saying he has good news to share?

[Minmus Taster]

57 minutes ago, Mutex said:

His wording was more like "I'm very much looking forward to talking when I can", quoted from memory. Reading between the lines, maybe he's saying he has good news to share?

 I was struck by that too, though I don't see it as a good or bad thing, more so that there's at least more to say than "Everything is perfectly fine but don't expect that colonies update anytime soon, not that anything is wrong with our impressive two person development team".

[MechBFP]

1 hour ago, Mutex said:

His wording was more like "I'm very much looking forward to talking when I can", quoted from memory. Reading between the lines, maybe he's saying he has good news to share?

Source?

[Mutex]

21 minutes ago, MechBFP said:

Source?

Matt Lowne mentions it at some point in the video just above.

[MechBFP]

26 minutes ago, Mutex said:

Matt Lowne mentions it at some point in the video just above.

Can anyone be more specific than this?

[Guest]

30:37
...

I have messaged Nate Simpson cre creative director of ksp2
30:45
and I said look I know you're obviously going to be under some massive corporate NDA so you can't really talk but can you
30:51
tell me anything and all he was able to say was I'm very much looking forward to talking when I can thanks for
30:57
understanding

...

[Fizzlebop Smith]

That could be as simple as "i want to tell my side of this dumpster fire"

Let us see what kind of pretty pictures we get next month.

[DAL59]

 

[Infinite Aerospace]

13 hours ago, Cryptobux said:

30:37
...

I have messaged Nate Simpson cre creative director of ksp2
30:45
and I said look I know you're obviously going to be under some massive corporate NDA so you can't really talk but can you
30:51
tell me anything and all he was able to say was I'm very much looking forward to talking when I can thanks for
30:57
understanding

...

That's an interesting statement. He is 'looking forward to talking'. Doesn't seem very doom and gloom.

[Scarecrow71]

44 minutes ago, Infinite Aerospace said:

That's an interesting statement. He is 'looking forward to talking'. Doesn't seem very doom and gloom.

 

Doesn't man he has anything good to say, either.  Taken at face value, his statement is literally "I've got something to say, but I can't say it now.  I am, however, looking forward to finally getting it off my chest".  Could be good, could be bad, could be indifferent.  All we know is it is something, and he can't say it now.

[Minmus Taster]

Found this on the discord: