Take-Two Interactive is closing two studios, including Rollerdrome developer Roll7

As part of previously-announced layoffs, Take-Two Interactive is closing Intercept Games and Roll7.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

I loved Rollerdrome and was looking forward to a Rollerdrome 2. 😐

Don't want to be melodramatic but as far you can be upset over video-game news ... bit heartbroken.

I feel like there's a trend of well made games like this going largely ignored by the gaming audience. It's quite frustrating. I hope the devs form a new studio but I suppose they'd have to start again from scratch.

[JEECE]

"I feel like there's a trend of well made games like this going largely ignored by the gaming audience."

Yep. I'd love to know how many of us actually bought this game, rather than just getting it on Gamepass or PS Plus. Probably a shockingly low number. Steam concurrents topped out at 419.

I know it's anecdotal, but when I think of my favorite indie games, I still largely think of titles that came out in the 2009-2015 range. Maybe with less competition it was easier to stand out then, but I just felt like at that time there was more recognition of the really great indie games that were worth your time.

[senorfartcushion]

Plus would have gotten them some extra money.

[TheLigX]

Olliolli 2, olliolli world and rollerdrome are some of my favorite indies of all time. This industry is disgusting lately.

[solideagle]

it's not industry's fault, it's the consumers fault. Audience just wants to play shooter/Battle Royale etc...

[Christopher]

No. It's the publisher's fixation on profit margins. They only want the most profitable of products. It's greed.

[Inverno]

I wouldn't blame consumers entirely either. If shooters and Battle Royal is all we're given then it's all we've got to buy. If the AAA industry wouldn't follow trends so obsessively it'd be better varied.

[JEECE]

There is fault to go around. Some of it is on consumers for sure. We whine constantly about live service games, but then we play them anyway and ignore better smaller titles.

But publishers and platform holders bear some responsibility too. You hear stories come out from indie devs who had big hits in the late PS3/360 to early PS4/XONE window who can barely move units now, and some of that is definitely failure to advertise and poor discoverability. During that era I felt like I reliably heard about the worthwhile indies, and now I don't.

Then there is the game pass effect (and PS Plus to a lesser extent). So many consumers have now been trained to expect to get indies with their subscriptions, they don't want to pay $20-$40 for them anymore.

[ZeekQuattro]

When voting with one's wallet goes wrong. I prsonally have no problem with AA or indie games. Often times those are some of the best experiences to be had in gaming. Unfortunately a lot of gamers thumb their noses at indies however. There are success stories but there are just as many casualties or at least it feels that way sometimes.

[LordoftheCritics]

It's the game.

Was fun for 10 minutes

[JackBNimble]

Has anyone actually taken a look at the economy? If you're really looking to blame someone for layoffs and closers, then maybe blame the people at the top making the bad decisions tanking the economies.
It's like some of you live in a little bubble oblivious to what's going on around the globe.

[TheLigX]

Hey there big business shilling homie… the game was very profitable.

[Gamble20]

If the games made money the studios wouldn’t be closing. Blame consumers for not supporting “indies”

[TheLigX]

The games were profitable, you ding dong.

[Killer2020UK]

I've got to disagree with the comments blaming consumers. Yes that is a part of it but by and large the money men are closing studios and sacking staff to increase profitability. Let's not forget the obscene salaries they're on compared to the people who actually make the games. Take 2 are not short of cash, this didn't have to happen.

[JEECE]

The thing is, some of the Indie devs closing are really independent. In other words, we can blame Take 2 here, but who can we blame other than the consumers when a fully independent dev shuts down because their games aren't selling? There is an answer to that question, it just isn't greedy publishers, even if they are the most fun to blame.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Last year, Take-Two president and CEO both got paid 72M combined as a bonus. They could have paid the 600 employees they laid off 60K a year and still get half of that (36M). Strauss' compensation alone is 578:1 compared to a T2 employee's.

[TiredGamer]

We created the industry by our purchasing decisions/actions. The industry is slowly imploding. At some point we may be left only with safe mainstays (COD, Fortnite) and franchise/movie tie-ins (Indiana Jones, Spiderman, Batman, Star Wars), along with a contingent of very low budget indie stuff if it can turn a profit.

Sad.

[notachance]

ah damn, I loved olliolli series

[monkey602]

I loved Olli Olli.

I wanted to like Rollerdrome a lot more than I actually did. Shame about the studio though

[andron]

Damn shame...

[rlow1]

From the article, “Take-Two Interactive is currently in the process of acquiring Gearbox Software in a $460 million deal.”

Now we know why.