2K has announced an “ambitious” new sports studio led by EA Sports FIFA veterans, which it says is building its “next blockbuster sports franchise”.
Small Axe Studio is a triple-A development studio formed from 2K’s exploratory Sports Lab project, which was established back in 2023, it said in an announcement.
Notably, the new developer is based in Vancouver, where EA makes its FC games (previously ‘FIFA’), and is full of former EA Sports veterans.
The studio is led by executive producer Aaron McHardy, who previously held the same role for EA Sports’ FIFA team for over 15 years until 2021. Small Axe’s design head is another EA veteran, Gary Peterson, who worked on FIFA titles spanning back to FIFA 06.
Other 20-year EA Sports veterans at Small Axe include head of operations Tom Pan, engineering lead Mike Thompson, and technical art director John Cruz.
According to an announcement, 2K wants Small Axe to use its experience to “redefine the future of sports video games.”
Although no specific sport is mentioned in the announcement, potentially of note is that the studio’s logo takes the form of a football club-style badge on a sports shirt.
In a LinkedIn post, exec producer McHardy said, “this studio exists to take on the industry’s boldest challenges, and our name reflects that: with vision, hunger, and focus, a small axe can take down a big tree.”
In 2023, FIFA split from FIFA, its partner of nearly 30 years, with FIFA 23 being the last EA Sports game to feature the FIFA branding, before it was renamed to EA Sports FC.
FIFA has long been on record that it intends to keep working on its own games, and in recent years it’s partnered on mobile titles and collaborations with Football Manager, but so far no triple-A console release.
Commenting on if it would be interested in taking on the FIFA license, considering its own strong history of sports games with the 2K Sports brand, 2K boss Strauss Zelnick remained coy, when asked about the situation back in 2021.
Take-Two and EA have often competed for major sporting rights such as the PGA Tour and NFL.
