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Take-Two boss Zelnick says coronavirus could lead to more remote working

Take-Two boss Zelnick says coronavirus could lead to more remote working

The CEO of Take-Two Strauss Zelnick has said that the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak might lead to more companies having their employees working from home.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference – as reported by GamesIndustry.biz – the exec said that the viral outbreak isn't going have an impact on the games business as a whole, but that it might mean more companies start having their staff work remotely.

"Any time people are sick or have tragically lost their lives, that's a more important topic than any we're covering today," he said. "In terms of business continuity, we're not concerned. In terms of our consumer, we're not concerned. And we have the ability to work remotely if it comes down to that. And I don't believe it will."

He continued: "They're going to have to find a way to be just as productive at home. Actually, I think one of the things that may come out of this if it's as widespread as I believe it will be, one unexpected consequence is a lot of us who were skeptical about remote work are going to be less skeptical about it.

"I'm one of them by the way. I'm not a big believer in remote work. But I think I may be surprised. I think you are going to see a significant change, maybe a long-lasting change, in business travel.

"Is [remote work] as effective as being face-to-face? I actually don't think so. But also, every one of you [addressing the conference audience] lost productivity getting here and returning from here, and the time that is less productive here. I'm not sure. We may be very surprised coming out of this."

The COVID-19 coronavirus has already impacted several events in the games industry, with companies pulling out of Boston's PAX East last week, while GDC 2020 and CCP's Eve Fanfest being cancelled.

E3 is still apparently going ahead despite California declaring a state of emergency.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.