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

[NexusHelium]

1 minute ago, Flush Foot said:

NexusHopium

NexusHopium. That's a good one. I might use that  

[PDCWolf]

1 minute ago, NexusHelium said:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dakotacx/

Do you see anywhere "Looking for work"?

Just now, Flush Foot said:

As much as I disagree with much of what NexusHopium says, when I checked Dakota's LinkedIn page (on mobile, anyways), I also did not see that '#OpenForWork' banner / flag that was circulating overnight

Good, that's a small ray of hope, but it also means someone was up to do damage.

[NexusHelium]

2 minutes ago, Meecrob said:

I meant to offense to the devs, it was more of a "Family Guy-cutaway" joke.

I'm assuming you meant "no offense" which, if you did. Ya, it's alright  

[moeggz]

Dakota was online and commenting as this news was breaking on Discord. Whereas closure rumors have always been shutdown in the past this time he made no comment. 
 

that is quite telling.

[Meecrob]

20 minutes ago, NexusHelium said:

I'm assuming you meant "no offense" which, if you did. Ya, it's alright  

Lol, yup.

 

19 minutes ago, moeggz said:

Dakota was online and commenting as this news was breaking on Discord. Whereas closure rumors have always been shutdown in the past this time he made no comment. 
 

that is quite telling.

I would be absolutely livid if I were @Dakota The powers that be had him hold the fort down for 5 months, just to be let go? I mean I knew we were in late-stage capitalism, but I didn't expect the abuse of Human Capital to be quite so blatant. I wish him and everyone else involved a smooth transition to new employment.

Edited May 1 by Meecrob

[Yakuzi]

28 minutes ago, NexusHelium said:

Just so you know.

This is false.

How so?

[Flush Foot]

16 minutes ago, NexusHelium said:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dakotacx/

Do you see anywhere "Looking for work"?

13 minutes ago, Flush Foot said:

As much as I disagree with much of what NexusHopium says, when I checked Dakota's LinkedIn page (on mobile, anyways), I also did not see that '#OpenForWork' banner / flag that was circulating overnight

Edit: added photo from Reddit, but again, I do not see that myself...

2 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

How so?

 

[Icegrx]

Also saw rumors elsewhere that steam reviews were turned off for KSP2 

this is also false

[moeggz]

But the truths are that take two is shutting down an office is Seattle with approximately the same number of people as intercept games. And that they preannounced the cuts would hit private division, and the only known studio in Seattle for private division is IG. This is the first time closure rumors haven’t been immediately squashed.

[LameLefty]

Just so you all know, LinkedIn now has all kinds of tiers and nuances to its memberships. Not all profile information is necessarily available by default to free members, or members who don’t pay for the right tier of membership. So just because you and I don’t see anything about Dakota being open to work doesn’t mean he isn’t listing that availability to professional recruiter accounts.

[Yakuzi]

30 minutes ago, NexusHelium said:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dakotacx/

Do you see anywhere "Looking for work"?

Right, everyone knows that social media profiles are immutable right up to the heat death of the universe...

Did you bother to check 9 hours earlier?
People change their profile status, who knew. If only there was a way to capture their previous status...

[DoomsdayDuck555]

10 minutes ago, moeggz said:

This is the first time closure rumors haven’t been immediately squashed.

It isn’t work hours yet though

[pk9sp]

https://www.eurogamer.net/kerbal-space-program-2-studio-reportedly-shut-down-by-take-two

an article just hit eurogamer 

[TLTay]

15 minutes ago, Icegrx said:

Also saw rumors elsewhere that steam reviews were turned off for KSP2 

this is also false

What they said was you cannot make a NEW review right now, not that you couldn't see reviews or edit existing ones.

[Icegrx]

Just now, TLTay said:

What they said was you cannot make a NEW review right now, not that you couldn't see reviews or edit existing ones.

Yes, that’s false. You can still make NEW reviews

[EndeavourCmdr]

Just now, TLTay said:

What they said was you cannot make a NEW review right now, not that you couldn't see reviews or edit existing ones.

They do this whenever the algorithm detects unusual review activity. Nothing new there. People freak out and try to "review bomb", and the algorithm kicks in and makes everyone cool their jets for a bit

[TLTay]

Just now, Icegrx said:

Yes, that’s false. You can still make NEW reviews

You verified this personally by making a first review when you've never reviewed KSP2 before?

 

If so, they may be actively managing this as word gets out to try to manage perceptions. It doesn't necessarily imply ill intent on the part of the one who originally posted, and may vary by jurisdiction based on laws that T2 expects may apply in event of a cancellation.

 

As for the news, it's hard to argue with the WARN act legal notice. The team is being laid off. They will not likely hire a new team AGAIN to work on a flailingly failing project.

 

The only question now is how the existing product is handled and whether purchasers will "get to keep the product they paid for,"  get a refund, a 1.0 patch gets pushed out at the last minute, or T2 continues to "work on" the game until the heat death of the universe.

[Icegrx]

3 minutes ago, TLTay said:

You verified this personally by making a first review when you've never reviewed KSP2 before?

Yes

[TLTay]

2 minutes ago, Icegrx said:

Yes

Probably the review-bombing prevention algorithm kicked in then and has since released it's grip.

[Yakuzi]

Take Two commented on the recent developments to Game Developer:

"Take-Two confirms Kerbal Space Program 2 is safe despite Seattle layoffs" - source

 

Seems like not all is lost (maybe). At the very least they've stepped up the communication cadence.

Edited May 1 by Yakuzi

[Flush Foot]

2 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

Take Two commented on the recent developments to Game Developer:

"Take-Two confirms Kerbal Space Program 2 is safe despite Seattle layoffs" - source

 

[Kerbart]

I hope the staff will get a chance to say their goodbyes but knowing how in general American corporations operate I assume everyone has been cut off from all systems right away.

A lot of us weren’t happy with the product but hoped to see it turn around one day. That day will now never come.

[NexusHelium]

25 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

Did you bother to check 9 hours earlier?
People change their profile status, who knew. If only there was a way to capture their previous status...

First of all. Did you see that thing that said they were working at intercept from January 2023 to present.

Second: Why ask the question if you don't want to take the facts laid out. The image shown on reddit is extremely old

4 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

Take Two commented on the recent developments to Game Developer:

"Take-Two confirms Kerbal Space Program 2 is safe despite Seattle layoffs"

Cool cool  

[EndeavourCmdr]

1 minute ago, Kerbart said:

I hope the staff will get a chance to say their goodbyes but knowing how in general American corporations operate I assume everyone has been cut off from all systems right away.

That's not how that works. Here, companies of more than 100 employees are required to give 60 days notice when a major layoff happens.

[DeadJohn]

22 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

Take Two commented on the recent developments to Game Developer:

"Take-Two confirms Kerbal Space Program 2 is safe despite Seattle layoffs" - source

Thanks for the info.

Reading the text within that article doesn't quite say KSP2 is safe, despite the headline. The article says KSP2 will continue to get "support" but doesn't actually promise ongoing development. Support could be as small as one part-time staffer answering emails from EA customers. T2 is quoted making legalese and no-comment statements in that article.

Maybe KSP2 is safe. Maybe it's not. The only thing that seems clear from the article is T2 has an attorney overseeing their statements.

Edited May 1 by DeadJohn
grammar