14 DAY TRIAL // Take Two, the company best known for publishing series such as Grand Theft Auto and BioShock, has vehemently denied that it has laid off any people that are working directly at the studio level to create new videogames. The company is saying that reports in various media outlets are erroneous and that the only staff that has been let go are at the publishing level.
Alan Lewis, vice president in charge of corporate communication at Take Two, told Gamasutra that “While it is our policy not to comment on rumors and speculation, we wanted to clarify an erroneous report regarding our company. As part of Take-Two’s stated goal to maximize the efficiency of our business, we initiated a targeted restructuring of our corporate departments only in order to better align our resources with our current goals.”
Initial reports claimed that as many as 400 people could be laid off at Take Two, a company, which reported heavy losses for the fourth quarter of 2009 and which is gearing up for a pretty tough 2010. Some of the restructuring is related to the sales of the distribution arm, Jack of All Games, set to be completed this year.
Recent reports also suggest that Carl Icahn has picked up even more Take Two shares and is pushing for a restructuring at the management level and for the business strategy of the publisher to be reconsidered.
On February 9, Take Two should publish BioShock 2, the sequel to one of the best videogames of 2008, which is shaping up to be another success. Another big title Take Two will release in the first months of 2010 is Red Dead Revolver, a Western open world title developed by Rockstar. Fans are also expecting to see an announcement related to the next Grand Theft Auto videogame in the coming months.