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Formerly |
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Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video games |
Predecessor | Vochozka Trading |
Founded | 1997 |
Founders |
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Defunct | 2017 |
Fate | Merged into Hangar 13 |
Headquarters | , Czech Republic |
Number of locations | 2 studios (2017) |
Number of employees | ~100 [1] (2017) |
Parent | 2K (2008–2017) |
Website | 2kczech.com |
2K Czech, s.r.o. (formerly Illusion Softworks, a.s.) was a Czech video game developer based in Brno, founded as Illusion Softworks in 1997 by Petr Vochozka and Jan Kudera. The company was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in January 2008 and subsequently organised under the 2K label, becoming 2K Czech. The studio was merged into 2K's Hangar 13 in 2017. Despite this, the 2K Czech name is still used occasionally, such as in the credits of TopSpin 2K25. [2] The developer is best known for creating the Mafia series.
Illusion Softworks was established in 1997 in Brno by Petr Vochozka and Jan Kudera. [3] The company succeeded Vochozka's video game publisher, Vochozka Trading, through funding provided by Kudera's Cash Reform fund. [4] [5] The team initially comprised only five people, including Vochozka and Kudera. The team would expand to 40 people by the release of Mafia in 2002. [6]
The studio provided assistance to Silver Wish Games for the production of Wings of War, Chameleon and Circus Empire. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
In September 2007, several Illusions Softworks employees left the studio to found The Easy Company, which went on to produce MotorM4X (2008). [12]
On 8 January 2008, Take-Two Interactive announced that they acquired Illusion Softworks for an undisclosed sum. [13] As a result of the acquisition, Illusion Softworks became part of Take-Two Interactive's 2K label and was renamed to 2K Czech. [14] According to Take-Two Interactive's chief executive officer, Ben Feder, the agreement was made to expand the company's "strategic focus on owning high-value intellectual property". [15] In July 2011, several employees that had left 2K Czech, along with former employees of Bohemia Interactive, founded Warhorse Studios, the studio behind 2018 video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance . [16]
In September 2011, 40 employees were laid off from the company's Brno studio, with a few others made redundant at its Prague studio. [17] Both studios previously housed a total of 200 employees, with around 25% of them being cut due to the layoffs. [18] In November 2012, 2K Czech began hiring for a new, announced project; [19] at the time, 2K Czech had 188 employees. [20] There were reported creative differences between developers within 2K Czech, regarding the direction of the third installment of the Mafia series, which had started production between late 2010 and early 2011, with the project being rebooted around seven times between 2011 and 2013. [21] [22] [23]
2K announced in January 2014 that 2K Czech's Prague office was to close, and that 10 employees (including the development of Mafia III) would be transferred to 2K's headquarters in Novato, California, with most other employees moved to 2K Czech's remaining Brno studio. [24] [25] Of an undisclosed number of employees that were laid off, some were later hired by Warhorse Studios. [26] Mafia III's development was later shifted to 2K's new studio, Hangar 13, with 2K Czech receiving a supporting role. [27] In 2017, the studio was merged into Hangar 13. [28] [29]
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Lurid Land | MS-DOS | Abadion Arts | |
1998 | Léto s Oskarem | MS-DOS | Vochozka Trading | |
1999 | Hidden & Dangerous | Microsoft Windows | TalonSoft | |
2000 | Flying Heroes | Microsoft Windows | Take-Two Interactive | Assisted Pterodon |
Hidden & Dangerous | Dreamcast | TalonSoft | ||
Hidden & Dangerous: Fight for Freedom | Microsoft Windows | |||
2002 | Mafia | Microsoft Windows | Gathering of Developers | |
2003 | Hidden & Dangerous 2 | Microsoft Windows | ||
Vietcong | Microsoft Windows | Assisted Pterodon | ||
2004 | Hidden & Dangerous 2: Sabre Squadron | Microsoft Windows | Global Star Software | |
Mafia | PlayStation 2 | Gathering of Developers | ||
Xbox | ||||
Vietcong: Fist Alpha | Microsoft Windows | Assisted Pterodon | ||
2005 | Vietcong 2 | Microsoft Windows | 2K Games | |
Vietcong: Red Dawn | Microsoft Windows | Gathering of Developers |
Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Mafia II | Microsoft Windows | 2K Games | |
PlayStation 3 | ||||
Xbox 360 | ||||
2011 | Top Spin 4 | PlayStation 3 | 2K Sports | |
Xbox 360 | ||||
2016 | Mafia III | Microsoft Windows | 2K Games | Assisted Hangar 13 |
PlayStation 4 | ||||
Xbox One |
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
Mafia is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers. The game was released for Windows in August 2002, and later ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. It is the first installment in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional city of Lost Heaven, Illinois, during the 1930s, the story follows the rise and fall of taxi driver-turned-mobster Tommy Angelo within the Salieri crime family.
Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing sports games in the 2K franchise, most recently NBA 2K and WWE 2K, and previously NFL 2K and College Hoops 2K. Visual Concepts was acquired by Sega in May 1999 and sold to Take-Two Interactive in January 2005. The acquisition of the company led Take-Two Interactive to open their 2K label which Visual Concepts became part of, on the day following the acquisition. As of December 2018, the company employs more than 350 people.
2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several development studios owned by Take-Two, including Visual Concepts and Kush Games, which had been acquired the day before. Originally based in New York City, 2K moved to Novato in 2007. A third label, 2K Play, was added in September 2007. 2K is governed by David Ismailer as president and Phil Dixon as chief operating officer. It operates a motion capture studio in Petaluma, California.
Hidden & Dangerous 2 is a tactical shooter video game developed by Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering. It was released October 2003 for Microsoft Windows. It is the second installment and the direct sequel to 2K Czech's predecessor Hidden & Dangerous, it features similar gameplay concepts and themes. Illusion Softworks and creative director Petr Vochozka based the game's setting on stealth based British Special Air Service operations behind Axis lines during the Second World War.
Mafia II is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K. It was released on 24 August 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. The game is a standalone sequel to 2002's Mafia, and the second installment in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional city of Empire Bay from 1945 to 1951, the story follows Vito Scaletta, a young Sicilian-American mobster and war veteran, who becomes caught in a power struggle among the city's Mafia crime families while attempting to pay back his father's debts and secure a better lifestyle.
2K Marin, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in December 2007 as a spin-off from their parent, 2K, the company developed BioShock 2 (2010) and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (2013) before laying off or relocating all staff in October 2013 and silently being closed.
2K Games (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., doing business as 2K China, was a Chinese video game developer based in Shanghai.
The Game Developers Session (GDS) is an annual Czech conference on video game development.
Jaroslav Kolář is a Czech video game designer and producer.
Warhorse Studios s.r.o. is a Czech video game developer based in Prague. Founded in July 2011 by Dan Vávra and Martin Klíma, the studio produced Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which was released in February 2018. In February 2019, the company was acquired by Plaion.
Daniel Vávra is a Czech video game writer, director, designer and co-founder of Warhorse Studios. He is best known as the lead writer of the video games Mafia (2002), Mafia II (2010) and Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018).
The video game industry in the Czech Republic has produced numerous globally successful video games such as Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and the subsequent ArmA series, the Mafia series, Truck Simulator series, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, the Samorost series and others. There were 300–400 video game developers and around 30 video game companies focusing on video game development in 2014. In 2017 it was 1,100 developers and 47 companies. Video games are also considered by some experts to be the country's biggest cultural export. The video game industry did not enjoy a good reputation and was unsupported by the state until 2013, when the Ministry of Industry and Trade started to seek ways to kickstart the economy. By 2014, programs were planned to support the video game industry. Another problem is a lack of video game development specialization at any university.
Mafia III is a 2016 action-adventure video game developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K. It was released in October 2016 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, in May 2017 for macOS, and in October 2021 for Google Stadia. It is the sequel to Mafia II and the third installment in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional city of New Bordeaux in 1968, the story follows former criminal and Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay, who is forced to return to a life of crime to help his adoptive family settle problems with the local branch of the Mafia. After the Mafia betray and murder his family, Lincoln embarks on a quest for revenge while slowly building a criminal empire and seizing power from other criminal organisations in the city.
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Hangar 13 is an American video game developer based in Novato, California, in the area of the former Hamilton Air Force Base. Established with Haden Blackman in December 2014 as a division of 2K, the company's debut game was Mafia III, released in October 2016. In 2017, 2K Czech was merged into Hangar 13, wherefore the studio received two additional studios in Brno and Prague; another studio was opened in Brighton in 2018. Their second title, Mafia: Definitive Edition, was released in September 2020. Their third title, TopSpin 2K25, was released in April 2024.
Světák Bob is a 1993 Czech adventure game developed by Bohewia and published by Petr Vochozka for the Amiga system.
Léto s Oskarem is a 1998 Czech adventure game authored by Pavel Širůček and distributed by Vochozka Trading.
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