Kerbal Space Program 2 producer confirms mass layoffs, contradicting CEO's remarks

rockpapershotgun.com:

A producer on Kerbal Space Program 2 has confirmed that those working on the space flight sim are being laid off en masse. We already knew that the developers at Intercept Games would be losing their jobs thanks to a closure announcement from Washington State. Until remarks from Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, muddied the waters. Zelnick refused to acknowledge that the studio was being closed when asked by a reporter, even going so far as to claim the opposite. "We didn't shutter those studios," he told IGN. But it seems clear from one producer's testimony that Zelnick's remarks are inaccurate.

"The team at Intercept Games will be laid off as of June 28th so a great group will be out and about looking for their new roles. As will I," said senior design manager Quinn Duffy in a post on LinkedIn. Duffy has been working at the studio in its final months.

"I got to know the designers pretty well in my all-too-brief time there," he said. "These are some fantastically smart and talented people and I'm happy to vouch for their qualities."

Intercept Games was not the only studio to be affected by Take-Two's decision to "rationalize" hundreds of people out of their livelihoods. Roll7, the creators of OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome, are also reportedly being completely closed. We've asked folks at Roll7 and Intercept Games for comment to clarify Zelnick's remarks, but so far no word.

To those affected the reality appears obvious. The studios are being closed. So why doesn't the CEO admit as much? Jason Schreier of the Washington Post points out that Take-Two behaved in a similar way with 2K Marin, a studio they shut down in 2013. Although that studio has not been operating for 11 years, executives have never admitted to closing the studio in plain language.

It's hard to know what Zelnick (or his PR people) are thinking when they commit to inscrutable language that seems to defy reality. It is possible that, since the process of closure is ongoing, there