As reported by multiple outlets and confirmed by both a New York State Department of Labour document and official statements from Take-Two confirming they are closing mobile developer Playdots. The developer of puzzle game Two Dots was originally acquired back in 2020 and featured prominently in Take-Two’s earning calls where they spoke to investors about their finances and said they were committed to the mobile space.
However, Take-Two also acquired mobile publishing giant Zynga earlier this year, a move which could be seen to herald the streamlining of Take-Two’s mobile game holdings. At the time, Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau stated, “We are eager to continue building an unparalleled portfolio of games that will reach broader markets and lead to continued growth for this next chapter of Zynga’s history.”
Moving on from Playdots
Many of the developers at Playdots are being offered positions within Zynga, as confirmed in a press-release provided to GameDeveloper.com. Spokesperson Alan Lewis was cited as saying, “We believe this difficult decision will better align our resources with the needs of the business in today’s dynamic market.” Suggesting that Take-Two aims to unite disparate elements of their mobile portfolio into a single unit.
This may not be of much comfort to Playdot’s employees, butTake-Two have at least confirmed that their game Two Dots will remain in service, and that development will continue “at another Zynga studio.” Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga stood as the second-largest acquisition in game industry history to date.
Take-Two is making a massive push into the mobile space, and is likely looking to consolidate their smaller developers into the larger Zynga, their acquisition putting Take-Two on our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list. With the release of GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition onto consoles by Grove Street Games - who was the developer responsible for ports of the classic Grand Theft Auto series to mobile - proving to be disastrous, it’s no surprise that Take-Two is being ruthless in reducing the number of individual studios in their purview.
Take-Two looks to be attempting to bring more of its franchises into the mobile space with tailor-made games and not just ports. “We see tremendous untapped potential to bring Take-Two’s renowned console and PC properties to mobile, a high-priority initiative that will be energised by the addition of Zynga’s leading development, publishing, and live operations teams,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was reported as saying by The Verge.
