Rockstar Games and Zynga’s guardian firm Take-Two has reportedly laid off its head of AI, in addition to an unknown quantity 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 remark.
Dicken provides that he’ll take the time in per week to make a extra reflective put up 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,” itemizing seven totally different areas of experience converging the alleged layoffs.
“We’ve 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 labored at Zynga for over 10 years, most just lately as senior director of utilized AI. Then, he labored as the head of AI at Take Two from January 2025 till 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 improvement wrote. “That chapter has come to a close, as shifting priorities from upper management have impacted my team and me.”
At least 4 extra individuals wrote comparable posts on the social media web site. This contains 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, throughout an earnings name with buyers, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff talked about Google’s AI device Genie, saying that it should not be compared to conventional online game engines. Despite his skepticism, the firm has been vocal about its assist of generative AI instruments, with the president explaining that Take-Two is “actively embracing” the tech to “drive efficiencies” and “reduce costs.” It’s value mentioning that genAI has garnered a largely negative reception from developers lately, with many arguing that it’s having a corrosive impact on the trade.
Speaking to buyers throughout the firm’s newest earnings name, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated he hopes that generative AI will at some point develop into a inventive pressure. “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,” stated Zelnick.
Meanwhile, Take-Two reported an “outstanding” quarter, recording web bookings of $1.76 billion in accordance with the firm’s fiscal report for third-quarter ended December 31, 2025. Relevant to the reported layoffs, Zynga has been one of the important driving forces of the quarter. Toon Blast, a cellular title developed by Zynga-owned studio peak, grew by 43 % year-on-year and crossed $3 billion in lifetime web 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 Rockstar’s launch advertising set to start this Summer,” added Zelnick.
