Take-Two Interactivethe gaming giant behind studios like Rockstar and Gearbox has laid off employees from its AI team. The growing presence of generative artificial intelligence in the video game industry has sparked widespread concerns about layoffs, though those conversations typically revolve around the technology leading to job losses. This latest news from Take-Two adds another wrinkle to the discussion, potentially signaling a move away from the controversial technology while still involving job cuts.
Up until this point, Take-Two had an unusual relationship with artificial intelligence. CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors GTA 6 and Borderlands 4 The publisher is fully focused on generative AI, but at the same time Zelnick has publicly criticized the technology, especially when it comes to game development. Still, Take-Two has had a dedicated AI team since at least early 2025, but now the future of that department is uncertain.
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Take-Two has parted ways with its AI chief
In a LinkedIn post on April 2, former Take-Two AI chief Luke Dicken announced that he had been fired from the company. Dicken has been in the gaming industry for more than a decade and created the AI team at Zynga years before Take-Two acquired the mobile game studio in 2022. After the acquisition, Dicken moved up to Senior Director of Artificial Intelligence at Zynga before becoming the head of artificial intelligence for Take-Two as a whole in 2025. Now this time has been fulfilled, but also an unspecified number of his colleagues, and not only for his team D. affected by the layoff. While the post doesn't mention how many people lost their jobs in random order, the wording sounds like a significant portion of the team, potentially even all of them.
The sudden cuts could reflect a change in priorities for Take-Two. Despite Zelnick's remarks about the adoption of generative artificial intelligence in recent earnings, the CEO was not as enthusiastic about the technology as other industry leaders. In early 2025, Take-Two's boss called AI an “oxymoron” before going on to say he would not push the company to cut jobs. This statement seems somewhat ironic in retrospect. Technically speaking, AI hasn't replaced any workers at Take-Two, but the gaming giant has actually reduced technology-related employment. However, without an official statement from Zelnick or another authority at Take-Two, it's difficult to judge what led to these cuts and whether they're really a response to AI specifically or just a general cost-saving measure.
Take-Two is no stranger to layoffs in the name of efficiency. In 2024, the company closed Kerbal Space Program 2 Developer Intercept Games has decided to cut 5% of its global workforce in an effort to save $165 million. Take-Two has yet to comment on these recent job cuts, but they could also be cost-cutting measures as game development becomes more expensive but consumer spending slows. Interestingly, this is often the type of scenario where a company would point to AI as a way to do more with less, but this layoff directly affected Take-Two's AI professionals.
While much mystery remains surrounding the layoffs, the situation further illustrates that the ongoing debate about AI in game development is not a black and white issue. Many fans and developers may celebrate the idea of moving away from AI, but at the same time, it's possible that it has led to job losses in this case. On the other hand, there is evidence that the growth of artificial intelligence itself has fueled job losses. It's a complicated situation, and it's hard to say what Take-Two's latest cuts say about it without more information, but regardless, the layoffs are a surprising and unfortunate development.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating pending – probably over 17 years old
