Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel developer shuttered
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel developer 2K Australia has been closed down.
Kotaku broke the news, and also had word from an anonymous source, who said that all staff have been let go.
2K responded to our request for comment with the following statement:
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.
This is very sad news, not just for staff but for the Australian games industry, as 2K Australia was the last publisher-backed triple-A studio in the country.
2K has been quite good in the past about helping staff find new jobs after closures, as with Irrational Games, but it's going to be very tricky for those who aim to stay in Australia in similar roles. Happily, local trade body the GDAA is on the case:
Another reason this is a bit cutting is that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, which 2K Australia led development of in collaboration with Gearbox, is the best entry in a great series. It's distressing to see the talent behind that broken up.
2K Australia was founded in 2000 and has been renamed a couple of times, having started off as an offshoot of Irrational Games before migrating to 2K Marin and eventually setting up under its own identity. It was based in Canberra.
In its time, it contributed to Freedom Force, Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, all three BioShock Games and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was the first project on which it served as primary developer, I think.
All the best to all affected staff. May you find new and lovely gigs as soon as possible and go on to produce perfectly delicious things on the flourishing local indie scene.