This one’s a bummer. Mega-publisher Take-Two Interactive is shuttering Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal House Program 2 workforce Intercept Video games, in line with paperwork seen by Bloomberg.
Roll7 is predicated in London, and was based in 2008 by lifelong friends Tom Hegarty and Simon Bennett. Roll7 is the studio behind OlliOlli, OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome, all incredible video games with wheel-based mechanics. OlliOlli was a Vita hit in 2014 and World landed in early 2022 — they’re each nice, and the latter specifically is a flow-state-inducing skateboarding platformer with an lovable artwork model. Rollerdrome was one among our favorite games of 2022; it is a luscious third-person rollerskating-and-gunplay sport that appears like a slice of Seventies dystopian sci-fi.
Roll7 has picked up a number of prestigious awards over time, together with latest wins at BAFTA and DICE. Because the studio title implies, Roll7 builders know the way to make extremely easy motion video games.
Take-Two purchased Roll7 in November 2021 and made it a subsidiary of Personal Division, the corporate’s label for small- and mid-size publishing offers. Based on Bloomberg, Take-Two plans to shut Roll7 and can provide severance packages to employees.
Intercept Video games is predicated in Seattle and is liable for Kerbal House Program 2, a preferred flight-simulation title that is nonetheless technically in early entry on Steam. Take-Two based Intercept in 2020 particularly to handle Kerbal House Program 2, and the sport has been receiving updates since going dwell in February 2023.
Take-Two has but to substantiate that it is closing Intercept Video games — nevertheless it hasn’t stated it is not, both. The corporate filed a notice in Washington on Monday outlining plans to put off 70 individuals within the state and completely shut their place of work, and a few Kerbal builders have confirmed their latest departures. Personal Division will proceed to replace Kerbal House Program 2, Take-Two stated in an announcement.
Take-Two is without doubt one of the largest online game corporations round, reporting $5.3 billion in income final yr. It is the proprietor of Grand Theft Auto and the mother or father firm of Rockstar Video games, 2K, Personal Division, Zynga and — very just lately — Gearbox Software program. Take-Two purchased Borderlands studio Gearbox in March for $460 million. Grand Theft Auto VI, arguably probably the most anticipated sport of the last decade, is because of add billions to Take-Two’s backside line in 2025.
In April, Take-Two introduced plans to lay off 5 percent of its staff, or roughly 600 individuals, by the tip of 2024. It additionally canceled some in-development initiatives. When information of the deliberate firings broke final month, Take-Two did not determine which studios would take the hit, however now we all know it contains Roll7 and Intercept. The corporate laid off some Personal Division employees in 2023 as properly.
An estimated 9,400 individuals have been laid off within the online game business to date in 2024, and a complete of 10,500 employees had been let go in 2023. Sony, Microsoft and Riot Video games have fired a mixed 3,300 staff this year alone, and the fallout from Embracer Group’s funding implosion retains spreading, with quite a few shuttered studios and greater than 1,400 displaced workers.