2K Australia closing up shop

Sad news, everyone: reports have come in that 2K Australia is closing its doors.

Kotaku Australia were told by an unnamed source that the Canberra-based studio was shutting up shop, with 2K itself later providing a statement that confirmed the closure:

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. 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.

According to “sources close to the situation”, a move to Melbourne was mooted in the hopes of attracting some new talent to the studio. This may have just created more problems, though, with the potential move allegedly causing “high-level members of the team” to leave the studio.

2K Australia have worked on plenty of major titles over the years, assisting with development on all three BioShock games and most recently releasing The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!.

It’s always sad to see a studio close. Hopefully, affected employees won’t be out of work for too long; there were some talented types working at that studio.