Take-Two Interactive, known for publishing Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands, has announced the sale of its indie-focused publishing arm, Private Division. This news comes alongside the confirmation of the closure of Roll7, the studio behind OlliOlli World, and Intercept Games, the team working on Kerbal Space Program 2. Interestingly, this announcement comes six months after CEO Strauss Zelnick previously denied any plans to shut down these studios.
Private Division was established by Take-Two in 2017 with a focus on publishing games from smaller independent developers. Over the years, it has brought titles like The Outer Worlds from Obsidian Entertainment and No Rest for the Wicked from Moon Studios to market. Additionally, Private Division set up Intercept Games to work on a sequel to Kerbal Space Program 2 and acquired Roll7, which released OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome.
Despite its initial success, 2023 saw layoffs at Private Division, followed by reports in May of a major shift in strategy for the label. The cancellation of a publishing agreement with Bloober Team, developers of Silent Hill 2 Remake, and mass layoffs at Roll7 and Intercept Games led to speculation about the future of the studios. Later, it was rumored that Take-Two was looking to sell Private Division, as only a skeleton crew remained to work on No Rest for the Wicked.
In its Q2 2025 earnings report, Take-Two officially confirmed the sale of Private Division. CEO Strauss Zelnick stated, “We recently made the strategic decision to sell [the] label to focus our resources on growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term. As part of this transaction, the buyer purchased our rights to substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles.” Despite the sale, Take-Two will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked without revealing the buyer of Private Division.
Zelnick praised the efforts of the Private Division team in supporting independent developers, noting their success in every project. However, he acknowledged that the scale of these projects was relatively small compared to Take-Two’s focus on creating blockbuster hits. Additionally, a Take-Two spokesperson confirmed the closure of Roll7 and Intercept Games prior to the sale of Private Division.