2K Australia, the studio that began as an offshoot of Irrational Games, is the latest triple-A video game studio to close its doors.
Kotaku Australia reported that all employees of 2K Australia will be terminated and high operating expenses are to blame. 2K Games confirmed the studio closure as a step taken to “better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams.”
2K Australia, located in Canberra was founded as Irrational Games, Australia in 2000 by Jonathan Chey, a co-founder of BioShock developer Irrational Games. After being acquired by publisher 2K Games in 2006, the studio was renamed 2K Australia the following year.
2K Australia mostly served in supporting roles on multiple games in the BioShock franchise, as well as The Bureau: X-COM Declassified. The studio also co-developed Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel with franchise creator Gearbox Software.
The challenge of maintaining solvency for development studios that produce the video game equivalent of Hollywood blockbusters, or triple-A studios is a recurring narrative in the video game industry. When a game costs upwards of $100 million to develop—and that’s probably a lowball for most triple-A game budgets—nothing other than smash hits and huge profits can justify the existence of studios that develop these games.
2K Australia is the latest triple-A studio to find itself closed, in the face of this awful math.
H/T Kotaku Australia/ Illustration via 2K Games
