2K Shanghai was founded as a subsidiary of 2K on 9 May 2006, in response to China's rapidly growing gaming market.

[1] Initial projects for the company included doing Chinese localisation for Civilization IV, developing an original intellectual property, and "serve as a hub for sales, marketing, development and outsourcing opportunities in China".

[2][3][4] On 6 November 2015, 2K's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, announced that they had closed down 2K China due to profitability concerns over their in-development title Borderlands Online.

[5] Due to the closure, Borderlands Online was effectively cancelled.

[6] 150 people were made redundant at 2K China and its Hangzhou studio,[7] while the Chengdu studio, as 2K Chengdu, was retained as a quality assurance facility.