 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Successor | Sidecar Studios |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Rachel Bernstein (president) |
| Parent |
|
Frog City Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 1994 by Rachel Bernstein, Bill Spieth and Ted Spieth, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2003, became part of the 2K label in 2005, and was closed down in 2006.
Frog City Software was founded by Rachel Bernstein, Bill Spieth and Ted Spieth in 1994. [1] In 2003, following the release of Tropico 2: Pirate Cove , Frog City Software was acquired by Take-Two Interactive. [1] On January 25, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of publishing label 2K, which would henceforth manage its development studios, including Frog City Software. [2]
On June 6, 2006, Snow, a game about drug trafficking in development at Frog City Software at the time, was canceled. [3] It was presumed that the move occurred as an immediate consequence of the 2005 Hot Coffee controversy. [4] Frog City Software shut down later that year. [1] Veterans of the studio established Sidecar Studios as a successor but disbanded a year later to pursue other interests. [1]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Imperialism | Microsoft Windows | Strategic Simulations |
| 1999 | Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration | macOS | The Learning Company |
| Microsoft Windows | Strategic Simulations | ||
| 2001 | Trade Empires | Eidos Interactive | |
| 2003 | Tropico 2: Pirate Cove | Gathering of Developers |
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.
Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
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. 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.
Tropico 2: Pirate Cove is a city-building game developed by Frog City Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2003. It is the sequel to Tropico.
2K Czech, s.r.o. 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. The developer is best known for creating the Mafia series.
Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.
Irrational Games was an American video game developer founded in 1997 by three former employees of Looking Glass Studios: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. Take-Two Interactive acquired the studio in 2006. The studio was best known for two of the games in the BioShock series, as well as System Shock 2, Freedom Force, and SWAT 4. In 2014, following the release of BioShock Infinite, Levine opted to significantly restructure the studio from around 90 to 15 employees and focus more on narrative games. In February 2017, the studio announced that it had been rebranded as Ghost Story Games and considered a fresh start from the original Irrational name, though still operating at the same business subsidiary under Take-Two.
Access Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in November 1982 by Bruce Carver and Chris Jones, the company created the Beach Head, Links and Tex Murphy series, as well as Raid over Moscow. Access Software was acquired by Microsoft in April 1999, transitioning in name twice before being acquired by Take-Two Interactive in October 2004, receiving the name Indie Built. In January 2005, Access Software became part of Take-Two's 2K label. Following a poor financial performance at Take-Two, Indie Built was closed down in May 2006.
Torus Games was an Australian video game developer founded in 1994 by Bill McIntosh. The company is located in Bayswater, Victoria. Its managing director is Bill McIntosh. The company being a family business. Torus has developed over 145 titles. The company is most known for family action/adventure games, based on well-known licenses.
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.
2K Los Angeles was an American video game developer based in Camarillo, California. Founded by Umrao Mayer in 1998, the company was part of Visual Concepts, which itself was a part of Sega. Both Kush Games and Visual Concepts were sold to Take-Two Interactive and subsequently became part of their new 2K label. Kush Games was renamed 2K Los Angeles in February 2007 before being shut down in 2008.
PopTop Software Inc. was an American video game developer based in Fenton, Missouri. The company was founded in 1993 by Phil Steinmeyer, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in July 2000, became part of the 2K label in January 2005, and was closed down in March 2006. It was known for its construction and management simulation games.
Cat Daddy Games is an American video game developer and a studio of 2K based in Kirkland, Washington. It was founded in the Seattle area by Ryan Haveson, Harley Howe, and Patrick Wilkinson after leaving Microsoft's games division in March 1996. During their time at Microsoft, they compiled a list of features they wanted to see in a game, and upon forming Cat Daddy Games, started developing Demon Isle, an action-adventure game. In Q2 2003, Cat Daddy Games was acquired by Take-Two Interactive and became an internal development studio for Take-Two's Global Star Software label. On September 10, 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of 2K Play, a new sub-label for its 2K division, which consumed all assets of Global Star Software, including Cat Daddy Games.
Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line. Between 1997 and 2001, the company switched parents and names multiple times before ending up organized under Vivendi Universal. On July 10, 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard.
2K Australia Pty Ltd was an Australian video game developer based in Canberra. The company was founded as Irrational Games Australia, a subsidiary of Irrational Games, in April 2000. Irrational Games Australia and its parent were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in January 2006, with Irrational Games being placed under the 2K label. The two Irrational Games studio were split apart in August 2007, wherefore Irrational Games Australia became 2K Australia. Furthermore, 2K Australia operated under the name of sister studio 2K Marin between April 2010 and November 2011, and was finally shut down in April 2015.
Venom Games Limited was a British video game developer based in Gateshead, England. The studio was established by Peter Johnson in 2003 and succeeded Rage Newcastle. Take-Two Interactive acquired the company in 2004, where it became part of the 2K label in 2005 and was closed down in July 2008.
2K Games (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., doing business as 2K China, was a Chinese video game developer based in Shanghai.
Rachel Bernstein is a video game designer and developer based in San Francisco, USA.
Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was founded by Take-Two Interactive and announced in December 2017. Private Division funds and publishes indie games developed by small to mid-sized studios. This includes taking over Kerbal Space Program publishing and releasing titles from Obsidian Entertainment, Panache Digital Games, and V1 Interactive.
| 2K |
|  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockstar Games |
| |||||||||
| Zynga |
| |||||||||
| Other | ||||||||||
| Former labels | ||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
