2K (2017-present)

2K (2017-present)
The "2K" in the name stands for how much their microtransactions will cost you.
Type: Subsidiary Founded: January 25, 2005 Headquarters: Novato, California, United States Key people: David Ismailer (president) Phil Dixon (COO) Melissa Bell (SVP, head of global marketing) Parent: Take-Two Interactive Divisions: 31st Union Cloud Chamber Hangar 13 Subsidiaries: 2K Chengdu 2K Vegas Cat Daddy Games Firaxis Games HB Studios Visual Concepts Website: https://www.2k.com

2K is an American video game publisher founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in 2005 based in Novato, CA. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following the acquisition of Visual Concepts from Sega in the same month. The company serves as one of Take-Two Interactive's three publishing labels, the other being Rockstar Games and Private Division. They used to be a good company but after the microtransaction-heavy NBA 2K18, they have gone downhill.

Bad Qualities

NOTE: Many of these reasons and actions can be attributed to excessive executive meddling by Take-Two.

1. Their recent sports games have been loaded with Lizzo-sized microtransactions and pay-to-win mechanics. The most notable and infamous case is the NBA 2K series.
   • Even worse, Take-Two had the nerve to make them include real gambling mechanics in NBA 2K20, despite the game having an E rating from the ESRB. In other words, it promotes underage gambling and child exploitation!
2. Their PC ports tend to be so inferior to the point where NBA 2K24 would have a terrible PC port that got onto the list of the lowest-rated games on Steam.
3. In 2020, they released the Mamba Forever edition for NBA 2K21 which had the late Kobe Bryant (a former Lakers player who died, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020) on the cover to gain extra money. And while they could add him in the cover art as some sort of tribute to him in general, they did it in a Deluxe Edition that's more expensive than the Standard Edition (and he wasn’t on the latter edition's cover!). In other words, it shows that 2K Games doesn't have a problem with using a deceased person for for-profits, which morally speaking completely. Disrespects. THE DEAD. Just think about that for a second!
4. They shoved unskippable ads in NBA 2K19, 2K20, and 2K21, which is extremely unacceptable for full-priced AAA, non-mobile games.
5. Their sports games tend to feel heavily recycled every year, and they also tend to be monetized, broken, and glitchy (especially in WWE 2K20's case).
6. Their WWE games (2K14-2K20) and NBA games (2K9-2K21) had their 2K servers shut down, meaning you can't play online matches or play MyCareer (NBA 2K entries only) anymore. That means if you bought the game after the servers have shut down, there's going to be fewer features in the game due to the lack of online mode.
7. The remastered version of Mafia 2 (titled; Definitive Edition) was outright broken at launch as it suffered from numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes. Fortunately, it got fixed after several patches.
   • The PC version of BioShock: The Collection is also broken as it still suffers from issues that haven't been fixed, mostly notable for the crashes. Luckily, it didn't occur on other platforms.
8. They added a paid season pass to NBA 2K24 (a full-priced AAA game), which is inexcusable for a game costing that much and should only be allowed if that game was going to be free-to-play.
9. When NBA 2K18 came out, instead of accounting for the aforementioned game issues, they tried to bribe reviews to give the game high scores to the point where they tried to pressure The Sixth Axis (who gave it a 3/10,) into giving the game a positive review.
10. They also made some mediocre, bad, or just plain terrible games, such as WWE 2K20 and NBA 2K20, and the list goes on.

Good Qualities

1. Before they went downhill by putting in microtransactions in their games, they used to be a good company that made one of the most iconic video game franchises.
2. They still have some good games after their downfall such as Borderlands 3, Mafia: Definitive Edition, NBA 2K22, NBA 2K23 and Lego 2K Drive.
3. After THQ closed its doors, it did a good job reviving the WWE series (except for WWE 2K20).
4. In March 2020, they announced they would revive the highly acclaimed NFL 2K franchise. However, the first title has been delayed and is currently lacking a release date, but they only have the non-simulation rights due to EA Sports' extended simulation rights up to 2026/Madden NFL 27.

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