2K

What 2K is

2K is a video game publisher. Its own about page states that the company is headquartered in Novato, California, just north of San Francisco, with offices spanning the globe across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The page gives the corporate office address as 9 Hamilton Landing, Novato, California, and says the company was built on a blend of its New York City roots and a Northern California approach. It describes 2K as a publisher of games for PC, console and mobile platforms across shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, sports and family entertainment, and sets out the values the company says it works by.

The company site is 2k.com, and its footer identifies 2K and its logos as trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and its subsidiaries. The about page does not give a founding year, an employee count or a leadership team, so those details come from Take-Two's investor relations material instead. The only corporate identification on the page itself is the Novato office address and the trademark notice in the site footer.

Ownership and history

2K is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive. A Take-Two investor relations press release announcing David Ismailer's appointment as President of 2K states that 2K was founded in 2005, that it develops and publishes interactive entertainment globally for console systems, handheld systems and personal computers, that its studios include Firaxis Games, Visual Concepts, Hangar 13, Cat Daddy Games and 2K China, and that it is headquartered in Novato, California. The same release notes that Ismailer joined the label in 2005, the year 2K was formed, and served as its chief operating officer for more than a decade.

The label's formation is documented in an earlier Take-Two press release dated 25 January 2005, which announces the establishment of 2K Games as a new publishing label that would publish internally and externally developed console, PC and handheld products, including sports titles under the 2K Sports label. That release names the Take-Two development studios folded into the new label, including Visual Concepts, Kush Games, Indie Built, Venom Games, PopTop Software and Frog City Software.

BioShock and the catalogue

BioShock is the game our database lists under 2K. Take-Two's press release announcing the 2K presidency lists the label's franchises as including BioShock, Borderlands, Carnival Games, Mafia, NBA 2K, Sid Meier's Civilization, WWE 2K and XCOM, and describes 2K as publishing those titles. The same release states that 2K's products are delivered through physical retail, digital download, online platforms and cloud streaming services. Steam lists BioShock Remastered under publisher 2K, with a release date of 15 September 2016.

The store listing credits development of BioShock Remastered to 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel and Feral Interactive, with Feral Interactive also named as publisher of the Mac version. Feral's role is listed on the store page alongside the 2K studios credited with the original development. The game is sold through 2K's own store alongside other titles, and the publisher's site news feed carries post-launch content announcements for its franchises. Our database lists BioShock as a 2K title in the publishing sense only, which is how it is described here.

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