2K Sports studio Visual Concepts said to have laid off more than two dozen staffers in advance of basketball sim's October 5 ship date.
July turned out to be a depressive one for two of Take-Two's studios. During the first part of the month, the publisher confirmed that it had trimmed 20 positions at Firaxis, which stands poised to launch Civilization V on September 21. A week later, Take-Two said that Rockstar San Diego had shed an unspecified number of jobs, despite the unequivocal critical and commercial success of Red Dead Redemption.
Into August, and Take-Two is still trimming its internal outfits. As reported by Industry Gamers, the publisher has laid off approximately 30 people from its Visual Concepts studio, which handles sports franchises such as NBA 2K, NHL 2K, and MLB 2K.
"In order to properly align its resources with its current and future goals, and to continue to develop games as efficiently as possible, 2K Sports has eliminated approximately 30 positions at its Visual Concepts studio," the publisher said in a statement. "These reductions will not affect 2K Sports' ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its upcoming release of NBA 2K11."
Though a leader in the basketball space, Visual Concepts has struggled to match its competitors in the hockey and major league baseball arenas. Baseball in particular has been a problem for the studio and Take-Two, due to a third-party exclusivity contract signed with the MLB Players Association for what competitor Electronic Arts called "stupid money." In March, Take-Two said it expects to lose $30 million to $35 million on the franchise this year alone.
Take-Two had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment on the layoffs as of press time.
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
no point in keeping people if they dont have anything to work on. That being said it is the company's job to make sure they have projects to work on! so all in all it seems to be a bad management issue...if most of the lay off are in management ( which seems to be bad ) then the company is better off....
I've been playing 2k games since the original NBA2K on Dreamcast and I was very disappointed by nba2k11. It wasn't that it was a bad game, it was just the same exact game as 2k10! Take Two you are NOT EA. Please don't continue down the path to the dark side of filler milk releases.
I'll be getting NBA 2K 11; but on the NFL Football side, I sure hope for 2K to make a game once EA loses the rights or whatever in 2011.
Who cares that they let go of 30, MLB 2KWhatever isn't going to beat The Show anytime soon. In fact, The Show is the only sports game that can be considered a system seller in the entire industry. Not only is The Show the best baseball game going, it is probably the best SPORTS game out. I think it was the nineties the last time a 2K hockey game was on top. Before they can fix the games problems, they need to change the name of their sports line, and probably the name of the company as well! LOL Good luck to those let go, but 2K has been sliding for quite some time.
EA called them out for paying 'stupid money' for the MLB license? If that ain't the pot calling the kettle black! LMFAO Really EA? How much 'stupid money' did you guys pay for the NFL license after 2K5 kicked your ass that year, huh? After purchasing last years madden, I had enough hope to purchase this years, only to be disappointed AGAIN by your typical half-ass roster update effort. You gave me hope in '10 only to crush it in '11. This years madden is a HUGE letdown. 1 step forward, 30 back AGAIN! You idiots bought that license because 2K5 eclipsed your game, and you took the chump way out. That's not competition, that's what we call in the real world **** up' ;) After the lousy 2K8 and 2K9 efforts, I bought Live in '09, and haven't looked back. Live's online PWN's 2K's online, and ultimately is a fun product. That is why we play right? Jordan is second tier, and Magic is the REAL greatest player ever!
dang I just pre ordered 2k11...hope they dont come out with no boo boo in October.....man I hope they didnt fire the good people.
Well when you are competing against a product like The Show, stuff like this tends to happen. Only if VC still made football games, IMO APF 2K8 is still the best playing football game on the market.
I love how they say that cutting 30 people won't cause problems for their ability to create good games. It's just incredibly dumb to say.
Yes, in regards to EA's quote in the article about "stupid money": I am sure EA's plan is to purchase both 1st and 3rd party exclusive licenses as soon as they can. To them, purchasing any license while still allowing competition is indeed "stupid money", they would much prefer to purchase the license that allows NO competition. Smart money! The reality is, EA got caught with their pants down on the MLB license deal, and it was really a retaliation for them stealing all the other rights to everything else. EA is just sour that they themselves do not have the license to create an MLB game, and it won't be long until they knock MLB 2K and The Show out of the picture I think. They are the great Satan when it comes to sports games...
Holy shi********** THE 2K SERIES ALL READY SUCKS AND NOW THEY R CUTTING DOWN ON EMPLOYEES!!!!!!!!!!! WOW
LMAO @ EA " stupid money " LOL of coarse it is, there's no way EA could sell next to The Show without some work. Look at Madden, no competition and no hard work = easy money LOL
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