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History

Visual Concepts was founded in 1988 by programmer Scott Patterson and brothers Greg and Jeff Thomas, and was originally based in a small office above a bank in Novato, California.² On January 25, 1995, Electronic Arts announced that they had acquired a stake in the company.³ In September 1997, Sega announced their intentions to acquire the company; the deal was closed on May 18, 1999, and Visual Concepts switched ownership for an undisclosed sum.⁴

Following a June 2004 deal between Sega and Take-Two Interactive, wherein the two would co-publish and distribute titles in Visual Concepts' ESPN-based game series,⁵ rumors started spreading in December 2004, which suggested that Take-Two Interactive was planning to acquire Visual Concepts from Sega.⁶⁷ On January 24, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced to have completed a transaction of US$24 million to Sega for the acquisition of Visual Concepts, its subsidiary Kush Games, and the intellectual property to the 2K franchise.⁸⁹ The publisher's 2006 Form 10-K filing later showed that a total of US$32.2 million had been paid to Sega for the acquisition of Visual Concepts and affiliated properties by January 2006.¹⁰ On January 25, 2005, the day following the acquisition, Take-Two Interactive announced their new publishing label, 2K, which would henceforth manage Visual Concepts and Kush Games.¹¹

A March 2009 research study on Metacritic scores, conducted by GameQuarry, ranked Visual Concepts as the number one "most consistent" video game developer on the review aggregator website, with 50 out of their 72 games at the time having received an aggregated review score of 80/100 or higher.¹² In August 2010, Visual Concepts laid off 30 employees due to "the need for resource alignment and better efficiency".¹³ In December 2018, at The Game Awards 2018, Greg Thomas was honored with the "Industry Icon" award for his 30-year services with Visual Concepts.¹⁴

2K acquired HookBang's game division, which had worked with Visual Concepts on the NBA 2K games previously, in March 2021. The division was rebranded as Visual Concepts Austin to continue to support Visual Concepts.¹⁵ In February 2024, an unknown number of employees at Visual Concepts Austin were affected by layoffs.¹⁶

Games developed

1989–2004

2005–present

External links

• Official website

References

1. The Game Awards (December 6, 2018). "Greg Thomas Wins Industry Icon | The Game Awards 2018". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. /wiki/The_Game_Awards ↩

2. Hruby, Patrick (September 18, 2018). "Inside NBA 2K's Journey to the Top of Sports Gaming". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2796233-inside-nba2ks-journey-to-the-top-of-sports-gaming ↩

3. "Electronic Arts takes equity stake in leading software developer, Visual Concepts Entertainment" (Press release). The Free Library. Business Wire. January 25, 1995. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111435/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+takes+equity+stake+in+leading+software+developer,...-a016231665 ↩

4. Kennedy, Sam (May 15, 1999). "Sega to Acquire Visual Concepts". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-to-acquire-visual-concepts/1100-2451359/ ↩

5. Adams, David (June 8, 2004). "Take-Two Takes SEGA Sports". IGN. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/06/08/take-two-takes-sega-sports ↩

6. Thorsen, Tor (December 23, 2004). "Take-Two taking over Visual Concepts?". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-taking-over-visual-concepts/1100-6115592/ ↩

7. Orry, Tom (December 24, 2004). "Take-Two to purchase Visual Concepts?". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.videogamer.com/news/take-two-to-purchase-visual-concepts ↩

8. Feldman, Curt (January 24, 2005). "Sega officially out of the sports game". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-officially-out-of-the-sports-game/1100-6117016/ ↩

9. Adams, David (January 24, 2005). "Take Two Buys Visual Concepts". IGN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/01/25/take-two-buys-visual-concepts ↩

10. Sinclair, Brendan (January 31, 2006). "Take-Two reveals acquisition prices, hints at future lawsuits". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-reveals-acquisition-prices-hints-at-future-lawsuits/1100-6143447/ ↩

11. Jenkins, David (January 25, 2005). "Take-Two Acquires Visual Concepts, Announces 2K Games Brand". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/take-two-acquires-visual-concepts-announces-2k-games-brand ↩

12. Elliott, Phil (March 17, 2009). "Visual Concepts 'most consistent' developer". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/visual-concepts-most-consistent-developer ↩

13. Bennett, Colette (August 16, 2010). "NBA 2K11 Developer Visual Concepts Lays Off 30 Employees". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180218024157/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/120742/NBA_2K11_Developer_Visual_Concepts_Lays_Off_30_Employees.php ↩

14. The Game Awards (December 6, 2018). "Greg Thomas Wins Industry Icon | The Game Awards 2018". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. /wiki/The_Game_Awards ↩

15. Sinclair, Brendan (March 23, 2021). "2K acquires HookBang games business". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-23-2k-acquires-hookbang-games-business ↩

16. Kennedy, Victoria (February 7, 2024). "Layoffs hit WWE, Lego 2K Drive studio Visual Concepts Austin". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved March 5, 2024. https://www.eurogamer.net/layoffs-hit-wwe-lego-2k-drive-studio-visual-concepts-austin ↩

17. "MathCopter (1991)". Archive.org. 1991. Retrieved February 3, 2025. https://archive.org/details/mathcopter-1991 ↩

18. "IGN Presents the History of Madden". IGN. August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2011. http://retro.ign.com/articles/896/896893p3.html ↩

19. "PlayStationMuseum.com - Madden 96". PlayStation Museum. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722143623/http://www.playstationmuseum.com/Games/GRAVEYARD/BTA-018.htm ↩

20. David Short (March 1996). "Madden '96 in '97?". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 80. Ziff Davis. p. 121. /wiki/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly ↩

21. Dinsdale, Ryan (July 10, 2024). "NBA 2K25 Puts NBA Champ Jayson Tatum and WNBA Champ A'ja Wilson on Cover, Launches September". IGN. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024. https://www.ign.com/articles/nba-2k25-cover-star-jayson-tatum-aja-wilson-release-date ↩