2K Games is expanding its first-party developers to four by announcing 31st Union as the newest one.
Micheal Condrey, a veteran developer in the industry and the co-founder of Sledgehammer Games, left Activision back in February 2018 to continue his career somewhere else. One year after that, it was announced by 2K Games that Micheal Conrey was set to lead a Silicon Valley-based studio of the company, which today officially revealed and named as 31st Union.
Working on an “ambitious and inspired new IP,” 2K’s new studio has already opened another branch in Spain, which could hint at a big-budget AAA title from a team led by the man behind Dead Space series. Condrey mentioned to the studio’s name in-between his speech, calling representer of the spirit of California in its rich diversity of thought, art, music, innovation, and cultural representation. Condrey said:
31st Union is off to an incredible start with a passionate and talented team, an intentioned culture that champions inclusivity and greater representation, and an ambitious and inspired new IP that we’re extremely excited about.
Our name and studio represent the spirit of California in its rich diversity of thought, art, music, innovation and cultural representation that have defined the current golden age of entertainment and technology here in Silicon Valley.
In revealing our new identity and announcing the expansion of our operations, we’re shifting into an exciting next phase of growth to include more voices and bring our vision to life around the globe.
We’re creating a development environment focused on a single new IP where passion is at the center of it all. We believe diverse perspectives and experiences are crucial to creating a truly global entertainment experience with a deep connection to passionate fans.
Before Micheal Conrey, Glen Schofield was another co-founder of Sledgehammer Games that left the studio and joined PUBG Corp. in order to work on a single-player story-driven game called Prologue.
Regarding that the studio has been performing since February last year, the team at 31st Union perhaps has already conceptualized their first title. However, depending on how big the game and the studio is, the development process will require a different amount of time.
Recently, 2K announced that Cloud Chamber, another of its first-party developers, has taken the helm for the next Bioshock game, but it needs several years to get ready for launch.
Hanger 13 is the other studio that is responsible for the Mafia series and 2K recently announced during the earnings call that their next project will be unveiled in the coming months.
Finally, we should point to Visual Concept as well, the studio that delivered poorly made WWE 2K20 last year, and will continue working on the next titles of the franchise, as revealed by 2K.