Diego Argüello, Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com
July 3, 2025
2 Min Read
Image via 2K / Cat Daddy Games
2K-owned mobile studio Cat Daddy Games, which has worked on titles based on the NBA 2K, WWE, and NFL 2K franchises, has seemingly laid off a number of employees.
Multiple developers announced their departures on Linkedin. Live-operations specialist Kayde Ahern, senior producer Bob Givnin, and live ops producer Jeff Kalles all posted about the layoffs and said they were personally impacted by the cuts.
“Well, it finally hit me,” Ahern wrote. “Like many in the industry, I’ve been impacted by layoffs. I’ll forever be grateful to my colleagues at Cat Daddy Games who helped me grow as much as I have over the years and I will miss them dearly, but it looks like it’s time to move on.”
Givnin specifically mentioned that his “role was made redundant” yesterday. When contacted for confirmation and details on the reported layoffs, a 2K spokesperson told Game Developer the company has “no comment at this time.”
It appears this isn’t the first round of layoffs at the studio in 2025. Producer Nicki Beaudry said she was laid off back in late May, while 3D animator Peter Hon wrote a similar post in March. Hon specifically mentioned being impacted by “corporate restructuring” at the company.
Back in February, Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two Interactive, which owns 2K, reported a “solid” financial quarter that saw NBA 2K beat internal expectations. Despite delaying Grand Theft Auto VI into 2026, the company is still projecting about 5 percent growth in revenue and net bookings for the year ahead.
Related:Report: Romero Games makes layoffs after Microsoft cancels project funding
Last month, the company extended its multiyear partnerships around NBA 2K. NBA 2K25 alone has sold almost 10 millions units worldwide, a 7 percent increase on NBA 2K24 sales during the same timeframe.
Take-Two’s mobile division accounted for more than 50 percent of the company’s total net bookings during the second quarter of the last fiscal year and over 64 percent of recurrent consumer spending—underlining its importance to the company.
Back in November 2024, Take-Two said it was contemplating creating mobile-first experiences for several console and PC titles while pursuing “select mobile M&A opportunities” following its Zynga acquisition in 2022.
About the Author
Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com
Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.
