According to a recent Game Developer report, Visual Concepts Austin employees have been hit yet again by more layoffs. The NBA 2K developer reportedly experienced layoffs across its production, design, and QA departments last September. Multiple former employees at Visual Concepts Austin broke the news on their respective social media pages including Brad Bowling, the studio’s former art manager.
“Well…the games industry bloodletting continues. Today Visual Concepts Austin laid off myself and a group of very talented developers,” wrote Bowling. “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…”
Another former employee, software engineer Sydney F, was also affected by the layoffs. They shared their disappointment in a separate LinkedIn post.
“Well, after a great year of working at Visual Concepts Austin it’s sad to say I’ve been laid off as of today, along with several other amazing colleagues,” they wrote. “I will miss all of those that I worked with greatly.”
Video Games Chronical (VGC) noted that layoffs have ravaged the game industry in recent years, with a reported 9,000 layoffs occurring in 2023 alone. In 2024, approximately 5,900 layoffs have already occurred, according to the layoff tracker website Game Industry Layoffs.
Visual Concepts Austin was purchased by 2k in 2021 under its previous name HookBang. 2K had planned to incorporate the studio in the development of the NBA 2K franchise. It’s unknown how these layoffs will affect games currently in development at 2K, as the studio has not offered any comment on the situation.