Today marks something of an end of an era in the gaming world, as the studio responsible for classic titles such as System Shock 2, Bioshock, and Bioshock Infinite, Irrational Games, plans to cut back its operations. Studio founder Ken Levine wrote a long detailed letter explaining the basis of the company’s changes on their official website.
“I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two,” wrote Levine in his statement to the fans. “That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team.” As Levine also notes, departing members of the Irrational team will receive financial support and assistance with placement at other Take-Two studios and third-party studios, so they aren’t entirely left high and dry.
This, however, doesn’t mean that the Bioshock franchise is ending anytime soon. Levine let it be known that Irrational is passing the Bioshock universe torch to 2K games, which could very possibly mean we’ll see 2K Marin back at the helm on Bioshock games as they were for Bioshock 2. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves yet; the second episode of Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea is still set to hit March 25th, and it could certainly warrant more playability, considering it’s Irrational Games’ last bit of Bioshock content ever.
The Bioshock series is one of the few that had a deep-rooted impact on me. From the philosophical observations on mankind, control, and individualism explored in the first game to the touchy vision of religion, civil rights and science seen in Bioshock Infinite, Irrational Games never settled for creating a universe that couldn’t impact us in a way that would have us pondering upon it for the years to follow. Thanks to Irrational Games for their hard work and the great memories that will last for a lifetime.
HT: Irrational Games
It seems good….
Kryptos, you’re an idiot. The end.
WORST DECISION……… make a huge hit like Infinite and then lay off those who helped make it possible? and then “start over” with a smaller team in order to, what, build it back up to where “it all started?” Someone needs to drug test Levine on this decision….
I think the main reason is because Infinite wasn’t quite the hit the original Bioshock was. Infinite was shown as an entirely different game in the teaser. When they pushed the release date they altered it a LOT.
My guess is something happened inside Irrational that they are not telling us.
Wow. I have a few friends at 2K Marin and I’m glad to see the series coming back to the North Bay… but I also know that 2K Marin is filled with some really horrible people who have done a lot of wrong to their employees.
I hope that the franchise is in good hands. I love Bioshock. The first game made me a Playstation fan (as it had great exclusive content on PS3) and it was one of the first shooters that I felt merged story and gameplay in a way that meant something.