Take-Two denies reports of job cuts at studio level

Take-Two has responded to claims of mass redundancies across the company, including its development studios, calling them "erroneous" and saying that no reductions have been made at studio level.

In a statement made to Edge, Alan Lewis, Take-Two's VP of corporate communications and public affairs said: "While it is our policy not to comment on rumours or speculation, we wanted to clarify an erroneous report regarding our company.

"As part of Take-Two's stated goal to maximise the efficiency of our business, we initiated a targeted restructuring of our corporate departments only in order to better align our resources with our current goals. Some of these changes were associated with the pending sale of our Jack of All Games distribution business. To be clear, there were no reductions made at the studio level."

The company is alleged to be cutting up to 20 per cent of its global workforce - a move that would affect as many as 400 staff across its various operations.

Take Two's share price rose significantly today to a high of $9.82 - a rise of 4.5 per cent.

Last week news emerged that existing Take-Two investor Carl Icahn had purchased over a million additional shares in a three day period, bringing his stake in the company up to 12.3 percent.

The move followed closely behind a board change which saw three Take-Two directors step down from their positions following pressure from shareholders, including Icahn.