Layoffs reported at Visual Concepts’ Austin studio

It has been reported that 2K has let go of some developers at Visual Concepts Austin, a studio best known for its work on many of the publisher’s largest franchises.

The details:

• As reported by Game Developer, former art manager Brad Bowling announced on LinkedIn that he and an unspecified number of colleagues had been let go from the studio. “Well, the games industry bloodletting continues,” Bowling said. “Today Visual Concepts Austin laid off myself and a group of very talented developers. I have had a great time over the past couple of years working with some of the finest Game Devs in the industry. Over the past 23 years of making game art, I have seen some downturns but nothing like this.”

• Sydney F, a former software engineer at Visual Concepts, verified the news, stating that they, along with "several other amazing colleagues," were let go despite only being laid off at their previous job a year and a half ago.

• Take-Two, 2K's parent company, has gone through several rounds of layoffs in the last year, having cut jobs at its Private Division label in March 2023. This is Visual Concepts’ second wave of layoffs in the last six months, following a series of job cuts in September 2023.

More gaming news:

• Microsoft will reveal the "vision for the future" for Xbox next week after it was claimed that several exclusive titles could potentially end up on PlayStation systems.

• Tencent is reportedly developing an Elden Ring mobile game. The game is expected to be free-to-play, with a monetization strategy inspired by Genshin Impact.