There’s been plenty of buzz recently surrounding the co-op puzzle-platformerIt Takes Twofollowing its numerous nominations at the 2021 Game Awards, however, the title has been hit with a trademark claim by major games publisher Take-Two Interactive. The claim is in response to how close the title “It Takes Two” is to the publishing company’s name and at the current time of writing it seems as if Hazelight Studios has dropped its attempts to secure trademark ownership over the game’s title.
Hazelight Studios told Eurogamer that the company isn’t currently able to comment on the situation, but that “hopefully it will be resolved.” Luckily, Take-Two isn’t claiming that Hazelight is infringing on its copyright which would requireIt Takes Twoto either be removed from stores or change its name. Instead, the trademark claim simply blocks Hazelight from being able to trademark the game’s title.
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As it turns out, this has been going on behind the scenes for quite some time. Hazelight has received a notice of abandonment from the US Patent Office confirming that the studio stopped its attempts to secure a trademark of the name on Jul 01, 2025, just four daysafterIt Takes Twolaunched. This seems to indicate that Hazelight had received trademark claims from Take-Two prior to the game’s release but went forward with its title anyway.
Because Take-Two Interactive wasn’t claiming infringement, there were no immediate legal implications for Hazelight to change anything aboutthe release ofIt Takes Two,and there remains nothing stopping the studio from continuing to market and sell the game or work on a similarly titled sequel. That said, there is the possibility that certain actions were taken behind the scenes that have impacted Hazelight’s marketing of its game and work on potential follow-ups.
One of the major problems that’s arisen withHazelight Studios' inability to secure a trademark on the name is that there are no legal roadblocks stopping other studios from making a game with the same name. When asked for comment about a potential rebrand ofIt Takes Twoby Eurogamer, Hazelight declined to say if anything was in the works.
This sort of behaviorisn’t anything new for Take-Twoas the company is known for its many trademark claims for the use of words such as “rockstar,” “mafia,” “civilization,” and others associated with the company’s published titles. Unfortunately, Hazelight Studios is just the next company in a long line that has been blocked from acquiring trademarks on intellectual property by the publishing giant.
It Takes Twois available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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