Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive which publishes the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) has reportedly shut down its AI division that was working on using AI tools in its games. Take-Two’s AI head Luke Dicken has confirmed on LinkedIn that his team has been shut down.
As per a report from Kotaku, Take-Two has laid off an undisclosed number of team members along with Dicken. Do note that Rockstar Games is believed to have fired around 30 members from its UK base in November last year.
Luke Dicken wrote on LinkedIn, “It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2 – and that of my team – has come to an end.”
The layoff comes just months before the release of GTA VI, which is scheduled for November 19 this year, after multiple delays.
Take-Two was working on AI?
The AI team at Take-Two was set up by Luke Dicken. He became the head of the AI division in early 2025 after spending over a decade at Zynga, which was acquired by Take-Two in 2022 for $12.7 billion.
As per the report, Take-Two’s AI division largely comprised Zynga pre-existing applied AI department.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick who has historically been against the use of AI to build games, stating that AI could never make a GTA game, stated in an investor call in February, “As it happens now, we’re actively embracing generative AI.”
Though Zelnick had explained that the company was hoping to use AI to “drive efficiencies and reduce costs,” which “frees up our creators to do the more interesting tasks.”
Take-Two reported strong financial results for the third quarter ending December 31, 2025, with net bookings of $1.76 billion.
Former Take-Two AI head wants help in finding jobs for workers
Dicken asked his LinkedIn connections to assist in finding new roles for his team members who had been laid off. He wrote, “I would appreciate your help in finding these awesome talented folks new positions – especially in the current climate.”
Going by Luke’s post, the layoff impacted employees across various departments within the team, including machine learning, production, operations and more.
Take-Two’s shutdown comes amid rising layoffs globally. Earlier this month, another gaming giant, EA, reportedly fired an undisclosed number of staff across its studios.
While gaming has been impacted, layoffs have been worse in other sectors. Oracle recently laid off an estimated 30,000 workers globally, with 12,000 roles being impacted in India alone. Amazon reduced its global workforce by 16,000 earlier this year.