2K Australia shuts down due to the country’s high cost of business
It is a sad day for the Australian video game industry, as the country’s last triple-A studio, 2K Australia, has been forced to close its doors. The studio, which has worked on big-name franchises like Bioshock and Borderlands, cites the high costs associated with doing business in Australia as the primary reason for the closure.
The developer’s most recent title, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and its associated DLC have performed moderately well, but nowhere near the stellar performance of Borderlands 2. One factor blamed for the game’s modest sales was the lack of support for next-gen consoles, though that has since changed after the title was included in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Closing to “to better manage ongoing development costs”
According to Kotaku Australia, sources claimed that the developer had been considering a move from the country’s capital, Canberra, to the much larger city of Melbourne as a way to bring in more talent. Allegedly, the threat of moving the studio over 400 miles away led to the loss of several high-level staff members, further exacerbating the studio’s already difficult financial situation.
“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 Australia said in a statement to Kotaku Australia. “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.”
2K Australia’s closure is a blow for the Australian video game industry, as it was the only triple-A studio still operating within the next. Now, only small-time independent developers remain, and while the indie game scene in Australia is booming, the loss of such a high profile studio is a worrying sign for the rest of the industry.
It is unclear how the studio’s closure will affect some of its partners, such as Gearbox Software, the primary Borderlands developer located a few thousand miles away in Dallas, Texas. Earlier this year, news broke that Gearbox is already working on Borderlands 3, which will be “built specifically for nextgen consoles.”
Image credit: Borderlands (c)
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