Australia has lost its last major international game development studio, as 2K Australia is being shut down. Founded in 2000 and formerly known as Irrational Canberra, 2K Australia was best known for developing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and their work on the Bioshock series.
A statement issued by 2K confirmed the closure, stating the move was made “in order to better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams.” That is a lot of corporate speak to translate, but it comes down to “It is too expensive to make games in Australia”. You can read the full statement over at Kotaku AU.
2K Australia were the last remaining “big” studio working on high budget releases in Australia, sole survivors of the many studio closures in the last decade as game development costs have risen. A strong Australian dollar and high relative wages saw the Australian arms of international studios shuttered, and 2K Australia has fallen victim to this despite the success of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and the recent fall of the Australian dollar. The sad truth is that some of the work 2K Australia has been doing can be done much cheaper overseas, art and coding can be outsourced to China, India and South America for a fraction of the cost of hiring an Australian (or American, or European) in those fields.
Twitter is already being used to help those affected find work, under the hashtag #2KAusJobs. Already studios from Australia and around the world are on board, and undoubtedly many who have lost their jobs will follow the well worn path to independent development. Our condolences to those affected by the closure.
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