Visual Concepts
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | May 1988 |
| Founder | Scott Patterson, Greg Thomas, Jeff Thomas |
| Fate | Acquired by Take-Two Interactive; became part of 2K label |
| Headquarters | Novato , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Greg Thomas (Industry Icon award recipient) |
| Products | NBA 2K, WWE 2K, NFL 2K (previously) |
| Owner | Take-Two Interactive |
Number of employees | 350+ (2018) |
| Parent | 2K |
Visual Concepts Entertainment is a United States-based video game developer located in Novato, California. Established in May 1988 by Scott Patterson alongside brothers Greg and Jeff Thomas, the studio focuses primarily on sports titles under the 2K brand, including NBA 2K, WWE 2K, and previously NFL 2K. In May 1999, Visual Concepts became part of Sega, before being acquired by Take-Two Interactive in January 2005. This transaction resulted in the formation of Take-Two's 2K label, which now oversees Visual Concepts. By December 2018, the company had grown to employ more than 350 individuals.
History
Visual Concepts originated in a modest office situated above a bank in Novato. In January 1995, Electronic Arts purchased a stake in the company. Sega revealed intentions to acquire Visual Concepts in September 1997 and finalized the acquisition in May 1999 for an undisclosed amount.
After Sega and Take-Two Interactive agreed on a co-publishing deal for Visual Concepts’ ESPN-themed games in June 2004, speculation arose regarding Take-Two’s plans to buy the developer. On January 24, 2005, Take-Two completed a $24 million purchase of Visual Concepts, along with its subsidiary Kush Games and the rights to the 2K brand. By January 2006, total payments had increased to $32.2 million. The following day, Take-Two introduced the 2K label to manage both Visual Concepts and Kush Games.
A March 2009 analysis identified Visual Concepts as the most reliable developer on Metacritic, with 50 out of 72 titles earning scores of 80 or above. In August 2010, the studio reduced its workforce by 30 employees to optimize resources and boost operational efficiency. At The Game Awards 2018, Greg Thomas was honored with the "Industry Icon" award for his thirty years of dedication to the company.
In March 2021, 2K acquired HookBang’s game division—previous collaborators on NBA 2K—renaming it Visual Concepts Austin to enhance development efforts. In February 2024, layoffs impacted an unspecified number of staff members at Visual Concepts Austin.
1989–2004
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Gnarly Golf | Apple IIGS | |
| Great Western Shootout | |||
| Sword of Sodan (unreleased) | |||
| 1990 | Designasaurus II | MS-DOS | |
| Pipe Mania | Apple IIGS | ||
| Task Force | |||
| 1991 | Trog | NES | |
| MathCopter | MS-DOS | ||
| 1992 | McDonaldland | Game Boy | |
| Spot: The Cool Adventure | |||
| Star Trek: 25th Anniversary | |||
| Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf | Super NES | ||
| 1993 | Bill Walsh College Football | ||
| ClayFighter | |||
| Harley's Humongous Adventure | |||
| Madden NFL '94 | |||
| Taz-Mania | |||
| We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story | |||
| 1994 | ClayFighter: Tournament Edition | ||
| Claymates | |||
| Dominus | MS-DOS | ||
| Lester the Unlikely | Super NES | ||
| Madden NFL '95 | |||
| MLBPA Baseball | |||
| NHL 95 | |||
| 1995 | Toughman Contest | Sega Genesis | |
| Weaponlord | Sega Genesis, Super NES | ||
| Viewpoint | PlayStation | ||
| Madden NFL '96 (cancelled) | |||
| 1996 |
PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
||
|
rowspan="2" |
1997 |
Microsoft Windows, Sega Saturn | |
|
NBA Fastbreak '98 |
PlayStation | ||
|
1998 |
One |
PlayStation | |
|
rowspan="3" |
1999 |
NBA 2K |
rowspan="6" Dreamcast |
|
NFL 2K |
Dreamcast | ||
|
NHL 2K |
Dreamcast | ||
|
rowspan="2" |
2000 |
NBA 2K1 |
Dreamcast |
|
NFL 2K1 |
Dreamcast | ||
|
rowspan="7" |
2001 |
Floigan Bros. | Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox | |
|
NBA 2K2, NFL 2K2, NHL 2K2, NCAA College Football 2K2: Road to the Rose Bowl, Ooga Booga, World Series Baseball 2K2 | Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox | |||
|
rowspan="7" |
2002 | NBA 2K3, NCAA College Basketball 2K3, NCAA College Football 2K3, NFL 2K3, NHL 2K3, Sega Soccer Slam, ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox; ToeJam & Earl III on Xbox only | ||
|
rowspan="10" |
2003–2004 | ESPN College Hoops, ESPN NBA Basketball, ESPN NHL Hockey, ESPN NFL Football, World Series Baseball 2K3, ESPN College Hoops 2K5, ESPN NBA 2K5, ESPN NFL 2K5, ESPN NHL 2K5, ESPN Major League Baseball | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
2005–present
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | College Hoops 2K6 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 | |
| Major League Baseball 2K5 | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Developed in collaboration with Kush Games | |
| Major League Baseball 2K5: World Series Edition | |||
| NBA 2K6 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 | ||
| NHL 2K6 | Supported development by Kush Games | ||
| 2006 | College Hoops 2K7 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360 | |
| Major League Baseball 2K6 | GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360 | Assisted Kush Games in development | |
| NBA 2K7 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360 | ||
| NHL 2K7 | Development support provided to Kush Games | ||
| 2007 | All-Pro Football 2K8 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| College Hoops 2K8 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| Major League Baseball 2K7 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360 | Collaborated with Kush Games | |
| NBA 2K8 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| NHL 2K8 | Assisted 2K Los Angeles | ||
| The Bigs | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | Provided support to Blue Castle Games | |
| 2008 | Major League Baseball 2K8 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 | Co-developed with assistance from 2K Los Angeles |
| NBA 2K9 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| NHL 2K9 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| 2009 | Major League Baseball 2K9 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| NBA 2K10 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| NBA 2K10: Draft Combine | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| NHL 2K10 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| 2010 |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
||
|
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 |
|||
|
Wii |
|||
|
2011 |
Major League Baseball 2K11, NBA 2K12 |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 |
|
|
2012 |
Major League Baseball 2K12, MyNBA 2K, NBA 2K13, NBA 2K MyLife |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Android, iOS, Facebook Platform, Wii U |
|
|
2013 |
Major League Baseball 2K13, NBA 2K14, WWE 2K14 |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Android, Fire OS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Assisted Yuke's for WWE titles | | |
|
2014 |
NBA 2K15, NHL 2K, WWE 2K15 |
Android, Fire OS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Assisted Virtuos (NHL) and Yuke's (WWE) | | |
|
2015 |
NBA 2K16, WWE 2K16 |
Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Assisted Yuke's for WWE | | |
|
2016 |
NBA 2K17, NBA 2KVR Experience, WWE 2K17 |
Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3-5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Assisted Specular Interactive (VR) and Yuke's (WWE) | | |
|
2017 |
NBA 2K18, WWE 2K18 |
Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation consoles up to PS4/5, Xbox consoles up to One/Series X/S, Assisted Yuke's for WWE | | |
|
2018 |
NBA 2K19, WWE 2K19 |
Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation platforms up to PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Assisted Yuke's for WWE | | |
|
2019 |
'NBA 2K20, WWE 2K20 |
Stadia (NBA only), Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch (NBA only), PlayStation and Xbox platforms up to PS4/Xbox One | | |
|
2020 |
NBA 2K21 |
Stadia (final NBA release on this platform), Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch (limited), current-gen consoles including PS5 and Xbox Series X/S | | |
|
2021 |
NBA 2K22 |
Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox platforms including next-gen | | |
|
2022 |
'WWE 2K22, NBA 2K23 |
Microsoft Windows and all major consoles including next-gen systems | | |
|
2023 |
'WWE 2K23, 'Lego 2K Drive, NBA 2K24 |
Microsoft Windows and all major consoles including next-gen | | |
|
2024 |
'WWE 2K24, NBA 2K25 |
Microsoft Windows and all major consoles including next-gen | |
External links
- Articles with short description
- Companies founded in California in 1988
- Mergers and acquisitions in 1999
- Mergers and acquisitions in 2005
- 2K (company)
- American firms established in 1988
- Businesses located in Marin County, California
- Novato, California
- Subsidiaries and divisions of Take-Two Interactive
- Video game enterprises in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Video game companies founded in 1988
- Video game development firms
- American companies established in 1988