2K Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Irrational Games Australia and 2K Marin) was an Australian

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

based in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. The company was founded as Irrational Games Australia, a subsidiary of Irrational Games, in April 2000. Irrational Games Australia and its parent were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in January 2006, with Irrational Games being placed under the 2K label. The two Irrational Games studio were split apart in August 2007, wherefore Irrational Games Australia became 2K Australia. Furthermore, 2K Australia operated under the name of sister studio

2K Marin 2K Marin, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in December 2007 as a spin-off from their parent, 2K, the company developed '' BioShock 2'' (2010) and '' The Bureau: XCOM Declassified'' (2013) before la ...

between April 2010 and November 2011, and was finally shut down in April 2015.

History

Irrational Games Australia was founded on 27 April 2000 as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Irrational Games. On 9 January 2006,

Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...

announced that they acquired Irrational Games, including Irrational Games Australia, and placed it under their 2K label. On 10 August 2007, shortly prior to the release of '' BioShock'', the two Irrational Games studios were split apart, with Irrational Games becoming 2K Boston, and Irrational Games Australia turning into 2K Australia. For the development of ''XCOM'' (later '' The Bureau: XCOM Declassified'') in April 2010, 2K Australia started operating under the name of

, another 2K studio. On 28 February 2011, 2K Australia's studio head, Martin Slater, abruptly left the company. On 20 October 2011, layoffs hit 2K Marin's Australian studio, with 15 jobs cut. Following the layoffs, on 28 November 2011, it was reported that the studio had dropped the 2K Marin label, and was working under their 2K Australia brand name again, this time on '' BioShock Infinite''. Jonathan Chey, who had led the company as studio head, left 2K Australia by July 2011, when he founded his own game development studio, Blue Manchu. On 15 April 2015, 2K Australia was shut down and all staff were made redundant, stating that the costs of operating a studio in Australia were too high. At the time of its closure, 2K Australia was considered to have been the last AAA video game company in Australia.

Games developed

As Irrational Games Australia

As 2K Australia

References

{{Authority control 2K (company) Australian companies disestablished in 2015 Australian companies established in 2000 Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Canberra Defunct video game companies of Australia Irrational Games Take-Two Interactive divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies disestablished in 2015 Video game companies established in 2000 Video game development companies