2K Australia, the studio responsible for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Bioshock 2, has closed. Confirmed by Kotaku, all employees have reportedly been laid off.
Founded in 2000 as Irrational Canberra, the studio was renamed 2K Australia in 2007. With involvement in titles including The Bureau: XCom Declassified, SWAT 4 and Tribes: Vengeance, 2K Australia was one of the country's longest-running studios belonging to a major games publisher.
The closure marks the end of Australia's contribution to blockbuster, big budget games development, though the country is rife with talented independent studios. With few tax incentives and the fall of the Australian dollar, the landscape isn't exactly accommodating for major publishers and studios based abroad.
"We can confirm we have taken steps to begin the studio closure process for 2K Australia in order to better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams," 2K said in a statement.
"We are very grateful for the team’s valuable contributions to numerous 2K projects, and are working with affected staff to explore reassignment opportunities where possible."
All the best to those affected.
In a sea of Game Awards announcements, you probably missed the debut trailer for Covenant, a gnarly 'FPS Soulslike' from veteran shooter devs looking to 'provide more than what seems possible for the price'
Borderlands 4's new vault hunters get a mixed reaction from fans: some say they're 'bland,' others defend their excitement
