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BioShock Studio Irrational Games Is Shutting Down


Goro

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Irrational Games, the studio that makes BioShock, is shutting down. BioShock creator Ken Levine said today that he plans to move on to smaller, narrative-heavy games that will be released digitally.

 

Levine, who ran Irrational, announced the news on the Irrational Games website today, noting that he'll be starting "a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two" and laying off all but 15 people.

 

"While I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we've done before," Levine wrote. "To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience."

 

The troubled development of BioShock Infinite was no secret—Levine's latest game was an expensive production, affected by multiple delays and scrapped features, which might explain his new focus.

 

Levine's new goal, as he wrote today: "To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable. To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally."

 

Irrational's final project will be part 2 of the BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea downloadable content,which is out next month.

 

Via Kotaku

Edited by Goro
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Whoa! Unexpected; wonder where this will lead future BioShock titles as im sure Take-Two may want to continue on with the franchise.

 

One of the main criticisms of BioShock (more specifically BioShock Infinite) has been the disconnect between its combat mechanics and the narrative, it wasn't bad per say, actually quite fun at times, but it also felt forced and unnecessary in many instances. With that considered, i think it's good that Ken Levine will be able to focus on more narrative-heavy experiences as he puts it rather than being held to the conventional first-person shooter standards expected of a huge triple-A game such a BioShock.

 

Hope all those laid-off employees find work elsewhere though, they certainly have the talent!

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dont have the time to read through everything but incase it hasnt been said yet: i believe its actually just 'winding down' to a smaller team not shutting down.

Source: http://www.playstationtrophies.org/news/news-12341-Ken-Levine-Winding-Down-Irrational-Games-Following-Final-BioShock-Infinite-DLC.html

I believe he is laying off all but 15 people, renaming the studio and focusing on indie games.

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This doesn't suprise me at all. Bioshock Inifinite was obviously an expensive game to make, anybody who played it should be able to tell that, and it sort of bombed in sales.

 

What an ass.  Letting go all of all but 15 people so he can make smaller, digitally based games?  

 

That's a bit unfair isn't it? There's no reason to assume this is actually what he wanted. This is probably a result of BI not selling well, plain and simple.

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This doesn't suprise me at all. Bioshock Inifinite was obviously an expensive game to make, anybody who played it should be able to tell that, and it sort of bombed in sales.

 

 

That's a bit unfair isn't it? There's no reason to assume this is actually what he wanted. This is probably a result of BI not selling well, plain and simple.

 

No doubt, it is harsh.  I'm just weighing in on my opinion.  I would be rightly peeved if I lost a stellar job working on stellar games.  Plus...DIGITAL *shudders*

 

That and BI was expensive, but there were so many people that busted a nut over it so I don't understand how it didn't do well in sales :huh:

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Ken Levine is one of those people I trust with everything, Bioshock ended on a really high and smaller digital titles probably means more creative games and IP's so I'm actually more exited by this news then that another Bioshock was anounced. It's a shame though for those employes but they will get hired again in no time.

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I've just lost all respect for Ken Levine. He always seemed like kind of a douche, but he made good games so it was whatever. However, now he's laying off hundreds of people just because he wants to make smaller games. It's not a huge deal that he wants to make smaller games, but he should have done what countless developers before him did, and just step down and let someone else run the company. Then move on to make whatever they want. But no, Ken decided that it was a better idea to put hundreds of people out of work even though they've all been doing a good job. I definitely won't be buying any game made by him, because I simply can't support such a selfish decision.

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