2K Life: Internship Opportunities at 2K
This past summer, 23 interns took part in 2K's internship program at 2K's Novato office, learning the ins and outs of game publishing and marketing. Interning at any company is a fantastic opportunity to gain real-world experience and expand your network of contacts, and 2K values the chance to help foster up-and-coming talent and get fresh perspectives on our projects.
Multiple teams took part to bring on interns for a variety of disciplines—subjects like Global Marketing Strategy, Applied AI, and User Research, to name just a few. We asked five interns to share the stories of their summer with us; read on to see what they learned. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's internship program—we can't wait to see what you all accomplish in the future!
Ahmad Muhammad
NBA 2K Global Marketing Strategy Intern
What projects did you work on during your internship?
I supported campaigns leading up to the NBA 2K23 launch, which has been full of epic moments. Those include our Cover Athlete Announce, Jordan Challenge, MyNBA, MyCAREER, and First Look Trailers where I've developed and reviewed content along with our Creative team.
Which 2K game do you have the most personal connection to, and why?
It wasn't all that long ago that I was playing NBA 2K until 4 AM every morning during the pandemic! I'm also a member of the Men's Basketball team at Illinois Tech, so #BallisLife.
What's been the most rewarding thing you've done or learned during this internship?
The most rewarding part would be the freedom my managers give me to pivot through roadblocks. Whether that involved bringing me to Las Vegas just three weeks into my role or learning how to communicate with our select partners, I've learned that when an issue arises, it only means another door has opened for us to run through. It was evident to me that 2K has a relentless way of going about our work—"Stay hungry, be humble," as the company value goes.
How has your internship changed the way you view the games industry?
It's given me a perspective that gaming isn't solely driven by the areas where I live. It comes in various forms and styles, from console to mobile or free-to-play to subscription-based. Change is the only constant.
What advice would you give to others who are hoping to intern at 2K?
Shoot your shot! Reach out to people in your network and be vocal about your skill set. At the end of the day, 2K wants you to bring your individuality to the team.
George Lober
Strategy & Operations Intern
What projects did you work on during your internship?
I primarily worked on a studio benchmarking exercise to help 2K better understand the unique features of each development and support studio. For example, we can look at employee positional breakdowns (engineers versus designers, etc.) at each studio, cost impacts of a studio's geographic location, time to achieve various game milestones and much much more.
I've also had the opportunity to analyze our upcoming office leases to look at the real estate impacts of various return-to-office policies. Finally, I've had the chance to work on exciting projects with the Asia and Talent teams, exploring our emerging market strategy and understanding the true cost to hire new employees.
Which 2K game do you have the most personal connection to, and why?
I'm most attached to the NBA 2K series—I've played basketball since I was a kid, and I love being able to create a player who looks like me.
What's been the most rewarding thing you've done or learned during this internship?
I've really learned the importance of interpreting data and using it to tell a story. It's valuable to have a raw data set, but unless you can segment the data and present it clearly to someone without knowledge of the underlying metrics, it can be very difficult to get your message across. My manager is an expert at visualizing data, and I've learned so much from working with him.
How has your internship changed the way you view the games industry?
Stepping inside 2K has shown me what an incredible culture the company has; the "Come As You Are" motto really hit home with me, and with others. It's also been fascinating to see the entire lifestyle of video game development—I didn't realize the enormous complexity behind a successful game's creation, publishing, monetization, and lifecycle extension.
What advice would you give to others who are hoping to intern at 2K?
Reach out to current employees! Not only is everyone incredibly friendly, but there are so many interesting teams and lines of work at 2K. Try to find your fit, and don't worry if you're not a major gamer—everyone is welcome here.
Maanya Mishra
Software Engineering Intern
What projects did you work on during your internship?
I've been working on creating a tool called Promotions Services, which will help with in-game promotions. It is mainly catered towards Marketing websites, stakeholders on game teams who need to preview promotions for a particular game. Another thing I've been working on is programming for DCL (Dialog Control Language) code files using design patterns to make them more readable.
Which 2K game do you have the most personal connection to, and why?
I grew to love The Quarry—it's so well made in terms of its storyline and visuals. One of the main things that drew me in was the sheer amount of different scenarios a person could end up in because of just one choice they made.
What's been the most rewarding thing you've done or learned during this internship?
Forming connections, whether it be with my hiring manager, people within my team, or even with the other interns. I've learned a lot of life lessons from the people I've formed connections with, which will be extremely helpful in my future career path.
How has your internship changed the way you view the games industry?
I'd always thought that the games we play are just made by a development team and then put out into the world. I never realized that there are so many teams behind the scenes who support the game platform, do marketing for them, and publish the game. There are so many aspects to making a video game other than developing the game itself.
What advice would you give to others who are hoping to intern at 2K?
Take advantage of the open-door policy at 2K; form connections and learn lessons from them. Also, like the company values say, "Come as you are"—don't be afraid to be yourself and let that personality shine!
Saman Alibhai
Global Social Intern
What projects did you work on during your internship?
During my time at 2K I worked on creating 2K's future TikTok strategies, using social posts to enforce the overall 2K brand, creating strategies for game celebrations including BioShock’s 15th anniversary, and surveying the qualitative and quantitative from the 2K brand social channels.
Which 2K game do you have the most personal connection to, and why?
This summer I did a lot of work for the Quarry, and I really came to appreciate all its finer details. Also, I love the mix of horror and humor—it's definitely a game that can keep my attention.
What's been the most rewarding thing you've done or learned during this internship?
There are more people willing to help than I would've assumed—all it takes is reaching out!
How has your internship changed the way you view the games industry?
Coming into this company, I didn't know how complex yet intriguing the gaming industry is. I've learned so much about all of the small details, time, and effort that go into making every game.
What advice would you give to others who are hoping to intern at 2K?
Be yourself and be honest. The saying "Come As You Are" is the most true thing about 2K. Over here they look for people who are authentically themselves.
Swaapnika Posa
Marketing Intelligence Intern
What projects did you work on during your internship?
I worked on telemetry data to make a user-friendly dashboard that would then let us make recommendations to various teams. Initially it was challenging being analytical and visual at the same time; I'm new to storytelling through visualization.
At first I added every visualization to the dashboard to be extremely thorough—but the dashboard turned out to be messy and not very appealing. My friend told me, "If you make things look easy, that's when you've worked hard." I realized the solution is in making data so simple, anyone can understand it.
Which 2K game do you have the most personal connection to, and why?
I'm admittedly not a big gamer myself, more of a spectator. I think I personally connected with the Civilization series because I'm so invested in the database. But something that really struck a chord with me and my philosophy is the 2K Foundation. This philanthropic initiative has truly changed the people's lives and given them a ray of hope. Hearing about communities benefiting from the 2K Foundation made my work feel more meaningful.
What's been the most rewarding thing you've done or learned during this internship?
What stood out to me was seeing women in top positions in the company. The Intern Lunch & Learn was the highlight of my internship: meeting leaders who are humble and open to sharing their knowledge. I'm proud of how my internship taught me to navigate through uncertainty and find my own solutions. Every day I learned something new about myself and improved my visualization skills. It's also been a pleasure getting to know the other interns, who were as ambitious and as driven as I am.
How has your internship changed the way you view the games industry?
I've always been fascinated by the gaming industry, and it has room for improvement. I think every industry has its own problems and can have toxicity, but I truly believe that an industry will make space for you if you try to carve out your niche in it. If you bring meaningful change to communities, you can really change an organization's perspective from the inside.
What advice would you give to others who are hoping to intern at 2K?
Never be afraid to ask questions. If you feel like you're lost and no one is giving you a proper solution, you're on the right track—carve your own solution. You can solve a problem instead of just thinking about it.
Interested in doing a summer internship at 2K? Keep your eyes peeled for openings on the 2K Jobs page and follow 2K on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.