2K Games

2K Games, Inc. (commonly referred to as 2K) is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company and its 2K Sports division were founded in January 2005 by Christoph Hartmann, David Ismailer, Jason Argent and Greg Thomas, as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. 2K is Take-Two Interactive's second publishing label, after Rockstar Games, and houses all of Take-Two Interactive's development studios, apart from Social Point and those suborganized under Rockstar Games.

History
On January 24, 2005, Take-Two Interactive acquired Visual Concepts and its Kush Games subsidiary, as well as the intellectual property of the 2K sports game series, from Sega for US$24 million. The following day, Take-Two Interactive announced that they had established 2K Games, making use of the 2K trademark for the name of the new publishing label. 2K Sports, a division dedicated to 2K Games' sports titles, was established alongside. The new company would from then on manage Take-Two Interactive's development studios, Visual Concepts, Kush Games, Indie Built, Venom Games, PopTop Software and Frog City Software, which were split between 2K Games and 2K Sports depending on the developer's primary genre.

In a five-alarm fire on January 21, 2006, the administrative and marketing portion of 2K Games' offices was heavily damaged. On June 15, 2007, 2K Games announced that they had closed their offices in New York City and would move to a new location on the West Coast, namely Novato, California, together with 2K Sports. On September 10, 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced that they had struck a partnership with Nickelodeon on publishing games based on their licenses. As a result of the agreement, Take-Two Interactive opened 2K Play as a new division of 2K Games. 2K Play would henceforth focus on family-friendly titles.

On May 4, 2017, 2K Games co-founder and until-then President, Christoph Hartmann, announced that he had stepped down from his position. Hartman previously worked for Take-Two Interactive for roughly 20 years, but did not state a reason for his departure. He joined Amazon Game Studios in August 2018. 2K Games' chief operating officer, David Ismailer, succeeded Hartmann as President on May 31, 2017.

On September 25, 2018, 2K Games announced 2K Foundations, which will "support underserved communities across the nation by refurbishing basketball courts in neighborhoods that need them the most". Microsoft will also be partnering with 2K Games to establish Xbox One S gaming stations at these courts. 2K Foundations plans to refurbish 12 basketball courts in multiple cities across the United States, including Cincinnati, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cleveland within its first year.

Current

 * 2K Chengdu in Chengdu, China; founded in June 2011.
 * 2K Marin in Novato, California; founded in 2007.
 * 2K Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.; founded in 2006 as 2K West, renamed in April 2013.
 * Firaxis Games in Hunt Valley, Maryland, U.S.; founded in May 1996, acquired in November 2005.
 * Hangar 13 in Novato, California; founded in December 2014.

Defunct

 * 2K Australia in Canberra, Australia, founded as Irrational Games Australia in 2000, acquired in 2006, closed in April 2015.
 * 2K China in Shanghai, China, founded in 2006, closed in November 2015.
 * 2K Czech in Brno, Czech Republic; founded in 1997, acquired in January 2008, merged into Hangar 13 in 2017.
 * 2K Hangzhou in Hangzhou, China; founded in 2007, closed in November 2015.
 * Frog City Software in San Francisco, California, U.S.; founded in 1995, acquired in May 2003, and closed in 2006.
 * Irrational Games in Westwood, Massachusetts, U.S.; founded in May 1997, acquired in January 2006, closed in 2017 and succeeded by Ghost Story Games.
 * PopTop Software in Fenton, Missouri, U.S.; founded in 1993, acquired in July 2000, merged into Firaxis Games in March 2006.
 * Venom Games in Newcastle upon Tyne, England; founded in January 2003, acquired in 2004, closed in July 2008.

Programs and initiatives

 * 2K Foundations (2018-present)
 * 2K Foundations Baltimore
 * 2K Foundations Cincinnati