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| A picture of Brian Heder, an NPC in Grand Theft Auto 6 |
In a move that has blindsided industry watchers and sparked intense speculation, Take-Two Interactive — the powerhouse publisher behind Rockstar Games and the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI — has quietly terminated its head of artificial intelligence, along with several other key members of its AI division. The sudden shake-up comes at a pivotal moment for the company, which is preparing to launch what many expect to be the biggest entertainment product in history.
For a company that has repeatedly insisted it is fully committed to AI-driven efficiencies, the layoffs raise uncomfortable questions. Are internal priorities shifting behind closed doors? Or is this a sign that even gaming’s biggest giants are tightening their belts as the industry faces continued turbulence?
LinkedIn Posts Reveal the Scope of the Layoffs
The news first came to light when Luke Dicken, who had been spearheading AI developments at Take-Two since January 2025 after a long and distinguished career at Zynga, shared a somber update on LinkedIn. His post confirmed that both he and his entire team had been shown the door.
“It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with Take-Two, and that of my team, has come to an end,” Dicken wrote.
He went on to request help finding new positions for his colleagues, adding, “I will take the time in a week or so to make a more reflective post on my time with Zynga and Take-Two, but for right now, I would appreciate your help in finding these awesome, talented folks new positions, especially in the current climate. We’ve been developing cutting-edge technology to support game development for seven years.”
You can read Luke Dicken’s full post here:
Luke Dicken’s LinkedIn announcement on the Take-Two AI team shutdown
But Dicken’s farewell was only the beginning. Another former employee, Jason Leon, who served as senior director of AI, posted his own departure notice shortly afterward — and offered a rare glimpse into the internal reasoning behind the restructuring.
“Over the past six years, first leading Zynga’s game services division in central tech, then spending the last two 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,” Leon reflected.
He then delivered the key detail: “The chapter has come to a close, as shifting priorities from upper management have impacted my team and me.”
Jason Leon’s post can be found here:
Jason Leon’s farewell and comments on Take-Two’s changing priorities
Four other AI employees at Take-Two Interactive — including the director of AI research and senior data scientists — have since confirmed on LinkedIn that they were also terminated over the past few days. The consensus is clear: the entire AI department has been gutted, if not completely eliminated.
A Sharp Contradiction to the CEO’s Public Stance
What makes this round of layoffs particularly puzzling is how starkly it contrasts with recent public statements from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. Just months ago, Zelnick told investors that the company was not merely dipping its toes into artificial intelligence but diving headfirst.
“We have hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company, including with our studios, and we are seeing opportunities to drive efficiencies and reduce costs,” Zelnick said at the time. “Mundane tasks become easier and less relevant, which frees up our creators to do the more interesting tasks of making superb entertainment.”
He painted a picture of a publisher aggressively exploring AI across virtually every corner of its operations. So why would the same company suddenly dissolve the very team responsible for leading that charge?
The answer may lie in a crucial distinction that Zelnick himself has repeatedly emphasized: generative AI has no place in the development of Grand Theft Auto VI.
“Zero” Generative AI for GTA 6 — And That’s Final
In multiple interviews, Zelnick has drawn a hard line between practical AI tools that assist developers (such as automating bug detection or streamlining asset creation) and generative AI that attempts to create game worlds, characters, or narratives on its own. When it comes to the latter, he has been dismissive — even mocking.
During one investor call, he stressed that human creativity in game development will remain irreplaceable, especially for flagship titles like Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, which he confirmed has “zero” generative AI involved. In a later interview, he went further, calling the idea of AI models like Google’s Genie 3 creating vast open worlds or games akin to GTA “laughable.”
That stance may have significant implications for Take-Two’s internal AI strategy. If the company’s leadership believes that generative AI is overhyped and irrelevant to their crown-jewel franchise, then investing heavily in a dedicated AI research team might suddenly seem less urgent — especially when the broader gaming industry is still recovering from post-pandemic layoffs, rising development costs, and shifting consumer habits.
What Does This Mean for Rockstar and GTA 6?
It’s important to note that Rockstar Games operates with significant autonomy within the Take-Two umbrella. The terminated AI team appears to have been part of Take-Two’s central technology group — not embedded directly within Rockstar’s own development pipeline. So while the layoffs are undeniably significant, they may not directly impact the day-to-day work on GTA 6.
That said, the timing is curious. Grand Theft Auto VI is currently scheduled for a Fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (with a PC version expected later). That means the game is likely in its final polishing and bug-fixing phase — precisely when AI-driven testing and quality assurance tools could prove most valuable.
If Take-Two is scaling back its central AI ambitions, it could be because leadership feels the most critical applications of AI for GTA 6 are already handled, or because they’ve decided to decentralize AI work back to individual studios like Rockstar, Zynga, and 2K. Alternatively, the move could simply be a cost-cutting measure: eliminating a high-cost research team whose long-term value was harder to quantify than immediate savings.
Industry Reactions: Shock, But Not Surprise
Reaction on social media and gaming forums has been mixed. Some industry veterans expressed genuine shock that Take-Two would dismantle a team that had been developing “cutting-edge technology” for seven years. Others noted that the gaming sector has seen wave after wave of layoffs throughout 2023 and 2024, with companies from Microsoft to Embracer Group slashing thousands of jobs. In that context, even a strategic AI team isn’t immune.
One former AAA developer tweeted: “Take-Two firing their AI leadership while the CEO talks up AI in investor calls is peak corporate contradiction. But it also tells you everything about how gaming execs actually view AI: great for buzzwords, less great for funding long-term R&D.”
Another commenter pointed out the irony: “They’re laying off the people who could actually help them reduce costs through AI. Make it make sense.”
What’s Next for the Terminated AI Team?
For Luke Dicken, Jason Leon, and the four other confirmed departures, the immediate priority is finding new roles in a brutal job market. Dicken’s LinkedIn post explicitly asked his network to help place his former colleagues, noting that they had spent seven years building advanced technology to support game development.
Given their expertise at the intersection of AI and gaming, they are unlikely to remain unemployed for long. Major players like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and Microsoft continue to invest heavily in AI research — though even those companies have conducted their own layoffs in recent months. Smaller studios and AI-focused startups may prove to be the most eager suitors.
The Bottom Line: Mixed Signals from Take-Two
So where does this leave Take-Two? On one hand, the company is preparing to launch Grand Theft Auto VI, a game so anticipated that analysts predict it could generate $1 billion in pre-orders alone and single-handedly boost console sales. On the other hand, it has just eliminated an entire AI team that was supposedly at the forefront of “cutting-edge technology” for game development.
The most likely explanation is that Take-Two’s leadership has decided to pivot from centralized AI research toward studio-integrated AI tools — or that they’ve concluded generative AI is not the revolution that many in Silicon Valley claim. Either way, the message to the industry is confusing: we believe in AI, just not enough to keep an AI department.
For now, fans of Grand Theft Auto VI can rest easy — the game’s development appears unaffected. But for anyone watching how gaming’s biggest publishers are navigating the AI revolution, Take-Two’s quiet dismantling of its AI team is a fascinating and cautionary tale. The future of AI in gaming may be bright, but apparently, it won’t be led from within Take-Two’s own headquarters.
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