Company:2K Sports

From HandWiki
2K Sports
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo game industry
FoundedJanuary 25, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-01-25) in New York City , New York, U.S.
Founders
  • Christoph Hartmann
  • David Ismailer
  • Jason Argent
  • Greg Thomas
Headquarters
Novato, California
,
Key people
Parent2K Games

2K Sports is an American video game publisher and a division of 2K Games. The company was established alongside 2K Games, in January 2005, by Christoph Hartmann, David Ismailer, Jason Argent and Greg Thomas. 2K Sports publishes all of 2K Games' sport games, such as NBA 2K and WWE 2K series, and manages Visual Concepts as those games' developer.

History

On January 24, 2005, Take-Two Interactive acquired Visual Concepts and its Kush Games subsidiary, as well as the intellectual property of the 2K sports game series, from Sega for US$24 million.[1][2] The following day, Take-Two Interactive announced that they had established 2K Games, making use of the 2K trademark, as a new publishing label.[3] 2K Sports was established alongside, as a division dedicated to 2K Games' sports titles.[3] The new company would from then on manage Take-Two Interactive's development studios, Visual Concepts, Kush Games, Indie Built, Venom Games, PopTop Software and Frog City Software, which were split between 2K Games and 2K Sports depending on the developer's primary genre.[3]

In 2005, another studio, PAM Development, was acquired by Take-Two Interactive and placed under 2K Sports.[4] On May 1, 2006, following poor financial results, 2K Sports closed their Indie Built studio.[5] Indie Built was previously acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2004 and became part of 2K Sports in 2005.[6][7] PAM Development and 2K Los Angeles (renamed from Kush Games in 2007) were closed in 2008.[8]

On June 15, 2007, 2K Games announced that they had closed their offices in New York City and would move to a new location on the West Coast, namely Novato, California, together with 2K Sports.[9] On January 23, 2013, 2K Sports announced that Take-Two Interactive had acquired the rights to games based on WWE from THQ's bankruptcy auctions, which would eventually become the WWE 2K series.[10] Following poor reception for MLB 2K13, 2K Sports announced on January 6, 2014, that the MLB 2K series would be discontinued.[11]

In July 2018, 2K Sports announced that they would publish Saber Interactive's arcade basketball game NBA Playgrounds 2, which would be renamed NBA 2K Playgrounds 2.[12] In August 2018, 2K Sports released HB Studios's licensed The Golf Glub 2019 featuring the PGA Tour game, which EA Sports had previously lost the rights to.[13]

Games published

Studios

Current

  • Visual Concepts in Novato, California, U.S.; founded in 1988, acquired in 2005.

Former

  • 2K Los Angeles in Camarillo, California, U.S.; founded as Kush Games in January 2002, acquired in January 2005, renamed in 2007, closed 2008.
  • Indie Built in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.; founded as Access Software in 1982, acquired and renamed in 2004, closed in 2006.
  • PAM Development in Paris, France ; founded in 1995, acquired in 2005, closed in 2008.

References

  1. Feldman, Curt (January 24, 2005). "Sega officially out of the sports game". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-officially-out-of-the-sports-game/1100-6117016/. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  2. Adams, David (January 24, 2005). "Take Two Buys Visual Concepts". http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/01/25/take-two-buys-visual-concepts. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jenkins, David (January 25, 2005). "Take-Two Acquires Visual Concepts, Announces 2K Games Brand". https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/95818/TakeTwo_Acquires_Visual_Concepts_Announces_2K_Games_Brand.php. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  4. Jenkins, David; Carless, Simon (February 1, 2006). "Take-Two Filing Reveals Lawsuits, Acquisition Financials". https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/7993/TakeTwo_Filing_Reveals_Lawsuits_Acquisition_Financials.php. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  5. Hatfield, Daemon (May 1, 2006). "Take-Two Closes Indie Built". http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/05/01/take-two-closes-indie-built. Retrieved February 4, 2018. 
  6. Loughrey, Paul (May 2, 2006). "Take 2 forced to shut internal development studio". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/take-2-forced-to-shut-internal-development-studio. Retrieved February 4, 2018. 
  7. Grant, Christopher (May 3, 2006). "Take-Two shutters Indie Built dev studio". https://www.engadget.com/2006/05/03/take-two-shutters-indie-built-dev-studio/. Retrieved February 4, 2018. 
  8. Plunkett, Luke (January 16, 2012). "Every Game Studio That's Closed Down Since 2006". https://kotaku.com/5876693/every-game-studio-thats-closed-down-since-2006. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  9. Nick Breckon (June 15, 2007). "2K Games Closes NYC Office, Heads West". http://www.shacknews.com/article/47449/2k-games-closes-nyc-office. Retrieved February 3, 2018. 
  10. George, Richard (January 23, 2013). "WWE Video Game License to be Acquired by Take Two". http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/wwe-video-game-license-to-be-acquired-by-take-two. Retrieved February 4, 2018. 
  11. Sarkar, Samit (January 6, 2014). "2K Sports pulls MLB 2K games offline, not renewing series for 2014 (update)". https://www.polygon.com/2014/1/6/5281150/mlb-2k-games-webpages-pulled-offline-2k-sports. Retrieved February 4, 2018. 
  12. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/not-content-with-nba-2ks-domination-2k-will-now-pu/1100-6460698/
  13. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/after-rights-leave-ea-rival-2k-sports-to-publish-n/1100-6461419/