2K Czech

For the Japanese company also known as Illusion Soft, see Illusion (company).
2K Czech
Subsidiary of 2K Games
Industry Game development
Founded 1997 (as Illusion Softworks)
2008 (as 2K Czech)
Headquarters Brno, Czech Republic
Products Hidden & Dangerous
Hidden & Dangerous 2
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
Mafia II
Vietcong
Vietcong 2
Enemy in Sight
Axel & Pixel
Owner 2K Games
Number of employees
 Decrease 66 (2015)[1]
Website http://www.2kczech.com/
Illusion Softworks logo.

2K Czech (previously known as Illusion Softworks) is a game development company located in Brno, Czech Republic. The company focuses mostly on first-person and third-person shooter games, but is widely known for their Mafia series of video games. Since the foundation in 1997, till the sale to Kush Games (a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive[2]) ten years later, its owners and key managers were founders Petr Vochozka and Jan Kudera.[3][4][5] In September 2008, the company was renamed 2K Czech.[3] As of October 2010, it had 188 employees.[6]

History

The primary mission of Illusion Softworks was to develop games for the PC and game consoles (PlayStation, Dreamcast, Xbox etc.) The company's first well known game was Hidden & Dangerous, a tactical shooter game in 1999, where the player takes control of a four-man British Special Air Service team executing a number of important sabotage and/or rescue campaigns during World War II. This game also represents the beginning of cooperation with worldwide publisher Take-Two Interactive. Their first 3D game was the not so famous - Flying Heroes, which featured fantasy mid-air action duels. In this game, Illusion Softworks presented a brand new 3D engine called the Ptero-Engine (named after The Pterodon company, which co-developed the software). The company prepared its own LS3D engine for the game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, which was first released in 2002. The game met with great acclaim from critics and was even labeled the best game about the Mob because of its original plot and revolutionary capabilities within its gameplay. In 2003, Illusion Softworks released two games. The first being a first-person shooter entitled Vietcong, which was situated in the Vietnam War. This game had also been developed alongside Pterodon, using their enhanced Ptero-Engine II. The second game was a continuation to their first tactical shooter: Hidden & Dangerous 2, also made with the LS3D engine. The official sequel to Vietcong titled Vietcong 2, was released in 2005 (once again in cooperation with Pterodon).

A lesser known game developed by Illusion Softworks was Lurid Land (released March 30, 1998), a platformer-puzzle game.[7]

Silver Wish Games is a division of Illusion Softworks. It is established in 2000.[8]

In August 2010, they released Mafia II, the long awaited sequel to the original Mafia game. That same year, they also released three DLC missions for the game. 2K Czech released their first sports game, the third sequel to the popular tennis franchise: Top Spin 4. They were working on another first-person shooter game entitled Enemy In Sight, but it is currently shelved.

On September 1, 2011 it was reported that 40 staff members from Brno studios and 10 from Prague studios had lost their jobs.[9]

The company was previously composed of two different game studios from Brno and Prague. On January 10, 2014 2K Games announced that the Prague branch of 2K Czech is to be closed and relocated to Brno. Also some developers from Prague and Brno are being transferred to 2K headquarters in Novato, California.[10]

In 2015, with the announcement of Mafia III, 2K Czech announced via their website that they will be helping to assist Hangar 13 to develop the game.[11]

List of video games

Year Title Platform(s)
Windows PS Xbox Other
1999 Hidden & Dangerous PC PS1 No DC
1999 Hidden & Dangerous: Fight for Freedom PC PS1 No DC
2000 Flying Heroes PC No No No
2002 Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven PC PS2 Xbox No
2003 Vietcong[A] PC PS2 Xbox No
2003 Hidden & Dangerous 2 PC No No No
2004 Vietcong: Fist Alpha[A] PC PS2 Xbox No
2004 Wings of War[B] PC No Xbox No
2004 Hidden & Dangerous 2: Sabre Squadron PC No No No
2005 Vietcong 2 PC No No No
2005 Chameleon[B] PC No No No
2007 Circus Empire[B] PC No No No
2009 Axel & Pixel[B] PC No X360 No
2010 Mafia II PC PS3 X360 OS X
2011 Top Spin 4 PC PS3 X360 Wii
2016 Mafia III PC PS4 XOne OS X
Notes

A Vietcong and Vietcong: Fist Alpha were released on the PS2 and Xbox as Vietcong: Purple Haze.
B 2K Czech was credited as "Silver Wish Games" for these games.

Cancelled video games

References

  1. ↑ Annual report 2014-2015, page 23
  2. ↑ http://www.secinfo.com/d12atd.vEx.9.htm
  3. 1 2 Commercial register at justice.cz, identification number (IČ) 25347004 (till 2002 Jan Kudera held most of his stake in Illusion Softworks via his company Cash Reform Group, s.r.o.)
  4. ↑ Annual report of Illusion Softworks, a.s. for 2003, auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit s.r.o.
  5. ↑ Annual report of Illusion Softworks, a.s. for 2007, auditor BDO Prima Audit s.r.o. (at the end of 2007 the sole owner of Illusion Softworks, a.s. was Kush Games, Inc.)
  6. ↑ Evaluation of 2K Czech by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 17 December 2010, available at justice.cz
  7. ↑ GameSpy: Lurid Land
  8. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/company/silver-wish-games
  9. ↑ Crossley, Rob (1 September 2011). "40 staff axed from Mafia studio 2K Czech". Develop. Intent Media. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Purchese, Robert (10 January 2014). "2K Czech restructuring, Mafia 3 moving to US?". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  11. ↑ http://www.2kczech.com/about2kczech/

External links

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