Take-Two CEO Claims Generative AI Will Increase Employment, Despite Industry Job Losses

Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, has made a bold, counter-intuitive claim that the rise of generative AI will ultimately increase employment in the video game industry. His comments come at a time of deep anxiety and widespread layoffs across the sector, with many developers citing AI as a factor.

Speaking at an event at The Paley Center for Media, Zelnick, whose company owns powerhouse studios like Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto) and 2K Games, dismissed fears that AI would replace human workers.

"It will not reduce employment, it will increase employment," Zelnick stated. "Technology always increases productivity, which in turn increases GDP, which in turn increases employment."

To support his argument, Zelnick used a historical comparison: "In 1865, 65% of the US workforce was involved in agriculture. Today, we produce food for America and the rest of the world, and 2% of the workforce is involved in agriculture... and employment is way up."

This optimistic long-term economic view stands in stark contrast to the current reality in the gaming industry. A 2025 report from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) found that one in ten game developers had been laid off in the previous year. Furthermore, major publishers like Microsoft, which owns Xbox, have laid off thousands of workers from their gaming divisions while simultaneously pushing for greater AI integration.

Other industry leaders have expressed direct concern over AI's impact on jobs. Brian Fargo, founder of inXile Entertainment, has stated he is "worried about job loss" from the technology.

Zelnick, however, sought to frame AI as a simple toolset, not a replacement for human creativity.

"Will it create a genius? No," Zelnick said. "Will it create hits? No. It's a bunch of data with a bunch of computers with a language model attached."

This reflects a more nuanced stance he has taken in the past, where he emphasized that the "creative genius is human" and that workers deserve to be paid if their work is replicated by AI. His current argument suggests he sees AI as a tool that will handle mundane tasks, freeing up developers for higher-level, more valuable work, which he argues would be "more highly compensated."

Despite Zelnick's optimism, his comments have been met with skepticism from developers who argue that the mass layoffs at companies like Microsoft and Electronic Arts, which are happening concurrently with their AI mandates, prove that corporations are viewing AI primarily as a cost-cutting and job-replacement tool.