Take-Two selling Private Division label to unnamed buyer

In today’s Take-Two quarterly earnings, the publisher behind games like Bioshock and Grand Theft Auto announced it has sold off its Private Division label to an unnamed buyer. The Private Division brand has been Take-Two’s publishing foray into indie and middle-sized games since its inception.

Formed in 2017, Private Division was intended to finance games that were ill-suited for the triple-A label that Take-Two was already focusing on. This included games like Kerbal Space Program, The Outer Worlds, OlliOlli World, and Rollerdrome.

The game list did not inspire a lot of sales success, especially compared to Take-Two’s major returns from games like Grand Theft Auto — the most profitable piece of entertainment media of all time — and its recent acquisition of Gearbox, creators of the Borderlands series. Earlier this year, Take Two laid off the vast majority of the Private Division staff, indicating that things were looking dire for the indie publishing label.

Now Take-Two is looking for buyers for the publishing label. It has not been said by Take-Two whether or not this sale includes Private Division’s existing contracts and partnerships, but considering one partner is Game Freak (the creators and developers of Pokémon), presumably the buyer would want all that it entails. Take-Two said that it would continue to support one Private Division title, No Rest for the Wicked, from Moon Studios. That title is in early access.