Grand Theft Auto publisher in the annual report exchanges dei for “diversity”
Interactive interaction, Behind the publisher Big Theft Automatic VIin its latest annual report, please refer to the efforts of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and promote “diversity of ideas.”
The change was originally discovered by Game File and is part of the company’s annual 10-K report, which provides insight into the company’s business, financial and risk factors. In 2024, the report includes a strong majority on DEI, expressing support for students with “eliminating social injustice,” LGBTQ+ rights, and minority game design, and “celebrating cultural differences” through the employee group.
In its 2025 report, Take-Two mentioned only diversity in one area: “We firmly believe that diversity in diversity drives innovations that are indispensable to our success.” The report added that the company’s goal is to “provide an inclusive workplace where everyone feels respected, heard and safe”, but does not include the commitment to scholarships to minority game design students who were founded in 2024.
“By empowering our colleagues to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset and take the risk of calculations, we believe we have created an environment in which people can thrive,” the report reads.
The move is part of a growing trend for the company to pull out its DEI program in a crackdown on anything the Trump administration has DEI was suppressed.
The DEI efforts in the video game industry have been evolving since the early days of gaming, but it wasn’t until 2020 that major companies began supporting minority developers while acknowledging larger systemic problems. After George Floyd was murdered by police, the company began voice support for a movement like Black Lives Matter and promised to help marginalized developers. But, as President Donald Trump has been suppressing DEI in the public and private sectors, these efforts may be at risk now.
Take-Two spokesman Wired declined to comment. The company’s website still includes a statement that argues that “more diverse teams are more valuable and effective. Diversity is the key to our success.”
Dei Backlash has recently spread among companies in areas such as technology and retail, gaining a solid foothold in the gaming community. Last year, the online harassment campaign attacked consulting firms with “GamerGate 2.0” to provide guidance and advice on cultural sensitivity and created lists that even think that any non-white, cis-Mahler and heterosexuals are taking it as dei. In the Modification Community, the game’s mods The Sims 4 Creating to remove LGBT and black non-player characters from the game.
The language in the Take-Two report echoes the language of companies such as Meta, which said it will seek “cognitive diversity” in 10-K earlier this year as it ends its own DEI program.
The Entertainment Software Association, which organized the now-extinct E3 and served as a supporter of the video game industry among regulators and lawmakers, declined to comment on the impact of DEI rollbacks in video games. Instead, a spokesperson directed the ESA’s “Inclusion and Attribution” page on its website, which advocates for representation and “the video game community is huge and diverse.”
