2K Play

Background
Global Star Software was founded in Canada as a software publisher in 1995 by Craig McGauley and Damian Cristiani. Since September 1, 1999, the company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive and published budget game titles. In 2003, Global Star moved its headquarters to New York City, USA. In 2007, Take-Two decided to perform another company reorganization (the first one led to the creation of Rockstar Games in 1998) and merged several of its sub-companies under the 2K Games brand. Global Star became its casual publishing arm known as 2K Play.

1st Logo (1997-2003)
Nicknames: "Earth in a Star", "The Global Star"

Logo: The logo is a toothed golden medal in the form of a circle. The words "GLOBAL STAR" and "SOFTWARE" are written inside the circle. Also, there is a star with a picture of the planet Earth inside at the very center. Sometimes, the company's website appears below.

Variant: On Worlds of Billy, the Earth ball jumps into a CD and blows it to form the logo.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare. Seen on Search and Rescue 4, Airport Tycoon 2, and Siege of Avalon. Nearly all of them are long out of stores.

2nd Logo (Late 90's-2003)
Nicknames: "Earth in a Star II", "The Global Star II"

Logo: We move around and see many cogs working over a background. One of the gears is the logo, which comes into full view and rotates, while the others fade away.

Technique: The cogs moving.

Music/Sounds: Humming synth with the gears working.

Availability: Very rare. Was seen on Kayak Extreme.

3rd Logo (2003)
Logo: We see a black rectangle with "Global Star" written over its bottom, and "SOFTWARE" below the plate. There is a stylized image of a golden eye in the plate, which has a star inside the eyeball.

Technique: None, but sometimes the logo shines.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Mall Tycoon 2, Jetfighter V, and Airport Tycoon 3.

4th Logo (2003-September 28, 2007)
Logo: On a black background, a golden "G" fades in, then a white "S" fades in, overlapping the "G". The name "GLOBAL STAR SOFTWARE", with "SOFTWARE" under "GLOBAL STAR" in spaced-out letters, appears below in a simple white font.

Variants:
 * Later games have the letters in gradient colors and in a 3D effect. This time, the letter "G" overlaps the letter "S".
 * On Carnival Games, the background is white.

Technique: Only the letters fading in.

Music/Sounds: A short rock tune or none.

Availability: Uncommon. This logo appeared on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Jetfighter 2015, Mall Tycoon 3, and other budget titles. The last game to use this was on Carnival Games for the Nintendo Wii.

(October 23, 2007-November 6, 2012)
Logo: The usual 2K logo with "pLay" in a straight font below it. A curved line is seen under the "L", connecting the "p" and "a" to form a smiley face.

Variant: On the Xbox 360 version of Nicktoons MLB, the logo zooms in and out.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: Usually none, but sometimes the opening theme plays.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the Xbox 360 version of Nicktoons MLB, crowd cheering and a "Charge" organ theme plays.
 * On the Nintendo DS version of Nicktoons MLB, a man says "2K Play."

Availability: Common. Seen on casual games published under the 2K Play label. Its final known appearance was on Bubble Guppies for Nintendo DS.