2K Marin shut down entirely - Reports

Yesterday news broke about a round of layoffs at Take-Two Interactive's 2K Marin studio. The publisher confirmed that it underwent "staff reductions" at the studio behind The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, but now reports are emerging that the staff was effectively reduced to zero.

Sources told Rock Paper Shotgun that the studio was "essentially" done for. And while Take-Two was said to have moved some staff over to Rod Fergusson's new Bay Area 2K studio, the site's contacts offered different interpretations of how many people managed to stay employed that way. One said 2K Marin employees would have had preferential treatment when seeking jobs at the new shop, but another suggested few benefited from it.

"A couple of weeks ago, the new 2K team in Novato (the one Rod Fergusson is leading) interviewed and made offers to a small number of 2K Marin team members," a source told the site. "I don't know exactly how many, but it wasn't a lot. It sounds like everyone who was not offered a position on that team was let go today."

A Polygon report further backed up the notion that 2K Marin was no longer a going concern. A source told the site they were "100 percent sure" that the studio was effectively closed. A Take-Two representative had not returned a request for clarification as of press time.

2K Marin was formed in 2007 by a core group of developers from the original BioShock development team. At the time, Take-Two said the studio's mission was to "develop original intellectual property, as well as co-develop products with other 2K studios around the world." Working with 2K Australia, the studio produced just two stand-alone titles, BioShock 2 and The Bureau, neither of them original IP.