Take-Two is laying off 550 people, even though it said it had “no plans” to do so

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two has announced it is cutting five percent of its 11,000-strong workforce — that’s about 550 people — and canceling several projects in development. The company said the move is the next phase of a restructuring plan that began in February.

The company said the move is the next phase of its restructuring plan.

In a new statement, Take-Two said it expects to incur costs of $160 million to $200 million as a result of the restructuring program, of which $120 million to $140 million is related to game cancellations. In addition, the company said that between $25 million and $35 million will be related to employee layoffs and related costs, and between $15 million and $25 million — in reduced office space.

Today’s news comes just weeks after Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said the company «has no plans» to lay off employees. «The hardest thing to do is to fire coworkers», — Zelnick said in February.

And that’s not the case.

Late last year, meanwhile, the CEO said Take-Two had avoided mass layoffs at the company because of a «three-part strategy» based on «innovation, creativity and efficiency». At the time, Zelnick told Eurogamer’s GamesIndustry.biz website that Take-Two was constantly «downsizing» its team. In other Take-Two news, the company recently acquired Borderlands developer Gearbox from Embracer for $460 million. It has also confirmed that the next Borderlands game is in development at that studio.

The company has also confirmed that the next Borderlands game is in development at that studio.