Early last week, Visual Concepts South, a division of 2K games best known for 2023’s Lego 2K Drive, laid off an unverified number of employees. The cuts happened across art, design, and engineering teams. Although there is no official confirmation from the company, several impacted employees have posted about the layoff on different social media platforms.
Virtual Concepts was founded in 1988 and has its headquarters in Novato, California. They have worked on 2K sports games including NBA 2K franchise. They are constantly innovating to make sure that every new release in their sports sim is an evolution of its predecessor.
“The Visual Concepts team is devoted and ambitious, never content to stop searching for new ways to improve the gaming experience and to develop advanced techniques and methods of producing cutting-edge entertainment,” the company said on its LinkedIn page.
Katlynn Woodward, a 3D artist who worked with Visual Concepts and was impacted by the September 2023 layoff posted about the current cut on August 22 saying “The majority of my team that I worked in Lego 2K Drive with were laid off”.
My heart is aching. The majority of my team that I worked on Lego 2K Drive with were laid off this week. Less than a year after I was laid off along with countless others. If you have been affected, I am here for you, and my inbox is always open. You will get through this.
— Kat 🌿Looking for Work🎮🎨 (@Katlynn3D) August 22, 2024
Several employees impacted by the layoff have posted about it. One of the posts was from senior 3D generalist Hoang Vu who said it was a pleasure working with the company and wishing them the best in future projects.
“After three incredible years at 2K Games Visual Concepts,” wrote VFX artist Arnold Song. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities and experiences I’ve had. Unfortunately, like many of my colleagues, I was affected by the recent layoffs. It was an honor to work alongside such talented individuals, and I wish everyone the best in their future.”
Environment artist Sean Campbell also made a post soliciting the help of his connections to land a new role and listed his portfolio without mentioning the layoff. A few other former employees of the company did the same.
This is the second round of layoffs to hit Visual Concepts this year. Earlier this year, the company made several roles redundant at its Austin studio. Last year September, the company also cut roles at its Austin Studio. In all the previous layoffs, 2K didn’t provide an explanation and it is unlikely the company will do so this time too.
