If you’ve been gaming as long as we have, then you’ll no doubt know all about Take-Two Interactive. If I mention games like Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Space Station Silicon Valley (one of my all-time favourite N64 games), then you’ll no doubt go ‘oh yeah, I know those guys’. They’ve put their names to some of the biggest series of all time, giving us so many amazing characters and adventures over the years, and they’re now the latest to fall foul of layoffs and project cancellations, announcing the closure of two of their studios.
As the parent company of Rockstar Games, you would think that Take-Two would be immune to having to make layoffs in the current climate. It seems that we were mistaken, however, with London-based studio Roll7 closing its doors after 15 years alongside Intercept Games, a studio producing some highly anticipated titles like Kerbal Space Program 2
In a statement made to IGN, Take-Two basically uses a lot of business terminology to hide the fact that they’re cutting jobs to save money. Phrases like ‘cost reduction program’ and ‘rationalising its pipeline’ are thrown up to try and soften the blow, but for the 600 people losing their jobs, the news will be anything but soft.
The Latest In A Line Of Classic Gaming Casualties
It doesn’t seem two minutes ago since we published the news about Free Radical Design, the creators of TimeSplitters, closing their doors forever, marking the end of a British gaming institution.
While on one hand, Retro Gaming is thriving thanks to the accessories and mods coming from members of the community, many of the studios and companies that we remember from yesteryear have either suffered similar losses or lay-offs in recent months. Take Sony laying off 900 people (8% of their global workforce) and their closure of Firesprite Studios to name just two instances – it’s happening everywhere.
Still, hope remains in one company that, despite all the odds, seems to be making a huge comeback. Atari have recently revitalised Infogrames, and when I say revitalised I mean ‘brought back from the grave’, giving us a piece of our childhoods back. They’ve purchased Nightdive Studios and seem to be going from strength to strength, acquiring new IPs to keep current and classic series alive. Whatever the Atari formula is, they’re growing in the right direction.
Companies like Evercade are also helping to keep classic titles alive, and we’re seeing new teams being brought forward from the likes of Sarah Bond to future-proof retro titles. It’s a turbulent time for the gaming industry, that much is true. Still, we’re seeing a growing trend of companies looking backward to games of the past in order to keep business alive, something Nintendo manages to do so well with their remakes and classics featuring on their online subscription service.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation with Take-Two Interactive over the coming weeks and months as well as the gaming industry as a whole and reporting back whenever we hear news about other closures. I want to say that there won’t be many more, but if the current climate is anything to go by, it seems the industry isn’t out of the woods yet, and the Famicom can’t save us all again this time.
