A press document released by Take-Two Interactive today states that the company has acquired Illusion Softworks. Illusion, a game developer with branches in Brno, Prague, and the Czech Republic, features a staff of 200 and will now bear the name of 2K Czech as 2K Games’ newest development studio. Illusion Softworks, since it’s creation in 1997, has developed several well known titles such as Mafia, Hidden and Dangerous, and Vietcong. At the time of this writing the studio is involved with 2K Games on a sequel to it’s Mafia title which, when it was released, made large strides in the organized crime genre, and on it’s own caused two million copies to be sold.

The CEO of Take-Two, Ben Feder, offered the statement that “The acquisition of Illusion Softworks reflects our strategic focus on owning high-value intellectual property as we continue to expand our portfolio of triple-A titles”.

The president of 2K, Christoph Hartmann, also stated that “Adding 2K Czech to our network of development studios demonstrates our strong commitment to creating great franchises and building world-class creative teams.” Mr. Hartmann also reinforced the viability of 2K Czech’s past performance when he commented that “The 2K Czech team is responsible for several very innovative and highly-regarded franchises and we look forward to continuing to develop new and existing IP together."    

Finally the CEO of 2K Czech, Petr Vochozka, stated that the staff of 2K’s latest studio was “ pleased to become a 2K studio and are confident that this new partnership will strengthen our current and future projects."