Take-Two has canceled several unannounced games and quietly postponed others due to what the publisher calls a “challenging consumer backdrop.”
Take-Two made the announcement during today’s earnings report, saying that “development deadlines for some of our titles have been extended, particularly as we seek to redefine the standards of creative excellence in our industry, which will impact our release schedule for the year.” affects.”
Take-Two will incur an impairment of $54.2 million in the fourth quarter “related to capitalized software development costs for unreleased and canceled console and PC titles.” In May 2021, Take-Two announced plans to release around 62 games across multiple formats and platforms by 2024.
Delays and cancellations are common in the gaming industry, impacting big-budget releases from Starfield to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Biggest games of 2023
Take-Two CEO: Consumers demand quality
Speaking to IGN, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick attributed the delays to consumer demand for excellence, among other things.
“The best view is that we are all striving for quality and consumers are demanding quality – and sometimes that can take longer than expected,” said Zelnick. “And you can also look at it another way: We are facing some productivity challenges. I think people here would say it’s not just about productivity, it’s about striving for excellence. I think the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.”
When asked about the “productivity challenges,” Zelnick pointed to the company’s hybrid work policy, which encourages workers to be in the office three times a week, but many work remotely.
“My personal opinion is that we probably do our best work when we’re together in person,” Zelnick said. Regarding a policy change, Zelnick said he would “listen to and trust his colleagues,” but many senior members of the company shared his view.
Hybrid working is an ongoing discussion in the games industry, as in many other industries. The decision to return to the office full-time at Activision Blizzard, Nintendo and other companies has prompted backlash from workers, some citing the impact on child-rearing, among other things.
Top rated games of 2023
Optimism for 2024
Elsewhere, Take-Two is upbeat about its release schedule, describing the fiscal year beginning April 2024 as an “highly anticipated year for our company” with an “incredibly robust pipeline of projects that we believe will take our company on a will bring even higher level. “Success.”
Take-Two claims these releases will push net bookings to over $8 billion, a jump that may indicate GTA 6’s release date falls within that timeframe. For comparison, Take-Two expects full-year net bookings to be between $5.45 billion and $5.55 billion in fiscal 2024.
Meanwhile, Take-Two has numerous games in development including GTA VI, BioShock 4 and Judas – the new game directed by Ken Levine. Find the rest of the biggest games of 2023 here.
Kat Bailey is Senior News Editor at IGN and co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Do you have a tip? DM her to @the_katbot.
