Report: Take-Two lays off the head of AI and multiple team members
Rockstar Games and Zynga's parent company Take-Two has reportedly laid off its head of AI, as well as an unknown number of team members.
"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," reads a LinkedIn post from Luke Dicken penned yesterday, whose job title is former head of AI for Take-Two Interactive.
When contacted for corroboration, Take-Two declined to comment.
Dicken adds that he'll take the time in a week to make a more reflective post on his time with Zynga and Take-Two. Until then, he says he would "appreciate your help in finding these awesome talented folks new positions," listing seven different areas of expertise converging the alleged layoffs.
"Weve been developing cutting edge technology to support game development now for 7 years. These folks know how to match innovation and novel problem solving approaches with strong product design chops to create systems that empower people throughout the development workflow," Dicken continues.
According to his profile, he worked at Zynga for over 10 years, most recently as senior director of applied AI. Then, he worked as the head of AI at Take Two from January 2025 until April 2026.
"Over the past 6 years—first leading Zynga's game services division in central tech, then spending the last 2 years building out the AI team at Take-Two—we pushed the edge of what's possible, applying emerging technologies to real game development problems," Take-Two's senior director of AI development wrote. "That chapter has come to a close, as shifting priorities from upper management have impacted my team and me."
At least four more people wrote similar posts on the social media site. This includes the director of AI research, the senior manager SRE, and two senior data scientists. "My team was recently laid off," reads the message from one of them.
In February, during an earnings call with investors, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff talked about Google's AI tool Genie, saying that it should not be compared to traditional video game engines. Despite his skepticism, the company has been vocal about its support of generative AI tools, with the president explaining that Take-Two is "actively embracing" the tech to "drive efficiencies" and "reduce costs." It's worth mentioning that genAI has garnered a largely negative reception from developers in recent years, with many arguing that it is having a corrosive effect on the industry.
Speaking to investors during the company's latest earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said he hopes that generative AI will one day become a creative force. "Just a reminder, our strategy has three parts: be the most creative, be the most innovative and be the most efficient company in the entertainment business. And generative AI squarely falls within the category of innovation and is already moving into the category of efficiency," said Zelnick.
Meanwhile, Take-Two reported an "outstanding" quarter, recording net bookings of $1.76 billion according to the company's fiscal report for third-quarter ended December 31, 2025. Relevant to the reported layoffs, Zynga has been one of the main driving forces of the quarter. Toon Blast, a mobile title developed by Zynga-owned studio peak, grew by 43 percent year-on-year and crossed $3 billion in lifetime net bookings.
"Our execution throughout Fiscal 2026 has been extraordinary and we are highly confident as we approach Fiscal 2027—which promises to be groundbreaking for Take-Two and the entire entertainment industry–led by the November 19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI with Rockstars launch marketing set to begin this Summer," added Zelnick.
