30 redundancies at Visual Concepts
Take-Two Interactive attempts to "align its resources" at 2K Sports developer
Visual Concepts, the developer of NBA 2K11 and other 2K Sports titles, has been forced to lay off around 30 employees, according to owners Take-Two Interactive.
Speaking to website IndustryGamers, vice president of corporate communications & public affairs, Alan Lewis confirmed that: "In order to properly align its resources with its current and future goals, and to continue to develop games as efficiently as possible, 2K Sports has eliminated approximately 30 positions at its Visual Concepts studio.
"These reductions will not affect 2K Sports' ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its upcoming release of NBA 2K11," he added.
The Californian developer is a veteran of American sports simulations, originally working with Sega on the 2K series as a second party developer. Visual Concepts was sold to Take-Two in 2005, at which point the 2K Sports brand was formed.
NBA 2K11 is due to be released in October, the developer's final sports title for the current calendar year.
In 2009 Visual Concepts was named as the most consistent" developer, ahead of EA Tiburon and Nintendo, according to data derived from review site Metacritic.