Take-Two sold Private Division to a buyer who has not been named: "We are top-ten hits makers around here," and Private Division was not making them.

Take-Two Interactive confirmed that it sold Private Division, its "high-end independent" publishing label, which it launched in 2017, along with "substantially the entire live and unreleased content of Private Division." Take-Two Interactive will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked (an action RPG launched in early access earlier this summer).

Private Division's goal was to help "top independent developers" make their games "critically and financially successful on a worldwide scale." But it had a poor track record in this regard. The Outer Worlds had a good start, but the last few years have been a struggle. Kerbal Space Program 2, which was supposed to be Private Division’s flagship game, has been deemed a flop.

Strauss Zelnick, CEO and Chairman of Take-Two, said during a call with investors today that the flops were not the problem. The real issue was that Private Division's hits weren't large enough.

Zelnick said, "We are really impressed with the work that Michael Worosz and his team did with Private Division." "They launched a number titles over the last several years and almost all of them worked, and two of them were big breakouts. It became apparent that our thesis - 'work with indie developers, bring them to this independently minded section, and possibly create new, large, durable intellectual property for the company' - was going be difficult at best.

"The titles were big, but not in comparison to our core intellectual property at 2K and Rockstar. Our job is to make the biggest and best hits on the market. We are not a long tail company. We are top-ten hits makers around here. We are top-ten players on the console and mobile sides. That is the core of any mature business in the entertainment industry.

Take-Two confirmed months later that Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games, and OlliOlli manufacturer Roll7 were closed. Zelnick stated shortly afterward, that the studios had not been shut down. The initial reports in May attributed them to major layoffs within Take-Two. A Take-Two rep has told GamesIndustry both studios had been closed at some stage prior to the Private Division's sale. The buyer will be announced "relatively shortly."