--- title: 2K establishes AAA sports developer Small Axe Studios description: 2K has launched Small Axe Studios, a new AAA game development team based in Vancouver, Canada, tasked with building the publisher's next sports franchise. The... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/2k-establishes-aaa-sports-developer-small-axe-studios-dazzq4rxt twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: 2K establishes AAA sports developer Small Axe Studios | daily.dev og:description: 2K has launched Small Axe Studios, a new AAA game development team based in Vancouver, Canada, tasked with building the publisher's next sports franchise. The... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/2k-establishes-aaa-sports-developer-small-axe-studios-dazzq4rxt og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/DAzZq4RXT.png og:image:alt: 2K establishes AAA sports developer Small Axe Studios og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 2K establishes AAA sports developer Small Axe Studios **[GamesIndustry.biz](https://daily.dev/sources/gamesindustry)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary 2K has launched Small Axe Studios, a new AAA game development team based in Vancouver, Canada, tasked with building the publisher's next sports franchise. The studio is led by Aaron McHardy, who spent 15 years leading EA Sports' FIFA team until 2021, serving as head of studio, VP, and executive producer. Several other leadership members are also EA veterans, including Gary Paterson, Tom Pan, Mike Thompson, and John Cruz. Small Axe grew out of 2K Sports Lab, a research and development initiative established in 2023 focused on future sports games, and will draw on 2K's experience with franchises like NBA 2K, WWE 2K, and PGA Tour 2K. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - ["It's less risky to be the masters of our own fate" – The AAA developers going indie](https://daily.dev/posts/it-s-less-risky-to-be-the-masters-of-our-own-fate-the-aaa-developers-going-indie-swkf7hupg) · GamesIndustry.biz · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Triple-A vets and accessibility experts launch new game dev co-op: Raze and Rebuild Studio](https://daily.dev/posts/triple-a-vets-and-accessibility-experts-launch-new-game-dev-co-op-raze-and-rebuild-studio-wkznjvmit) · Game Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AAA Game Industry is Dying, Ex-Nexon CEO Believes](https://daily.dev/posts/aaa-game-industry-is-dying-ex-nexon-ceo-believes-irq4qh89i) · 80 LEVEL · 4 upvotes · 2 comments - ["These sports games that were loved and revered... just went away" – How a group of ex-EA devs are launching a new NBA game](https://daily.dev/posts/these-sports-games-that-were-loved-and-revered-just-went-away-how-a-group-of-ex-ea-devs-are-l-hzfcmysy1) · GamesIndustry.biz · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#game-development](https://daily.dev/tags/game-development) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/2k-establishes-aaa-sports-developer-small-axe-studios-dazzq4rxt) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"2K establishes AAA sports developer Small Axe Studios","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/2k-establishes-aaa-sports-developer-small-axe-studios-dazzq4rxt","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/2k-establishes-aaa-sports-developer-small-axe-studios-dazzq4rxt"},"datePublished":"2026-08-14T11:10:10.528Z","dateModified":"2026-08-14T11:10:28.206Z","description":"2K has launched Small Axe Studios, a new AAA game development team based in Vancouver, Canada, tasked with building the publisher's next sports franchise. 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