According to Ken Levine, founder of Irrational Games, the studio will soon be downsizing to a team of about 15 employees. The developer, known for the wildly successful Bioshock and its spiritual sequel Bioshock Infinite, is switching focus towards smaller, narrative heavy, digital releases in the wake of Inifinite’s massive delays and production issues.
In a statement posted on the Irrational website, Levine had this to say,
“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. 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.”
Irrational Games, a studio for Take-Two Interactive, has had a long history of great, story based experiences. Games like System Shock 2, Bioshock and Infinite all pushed the boundaries of what material could be represented in the medium, mixing literature, film and political ideologies to excellent results. From terrifying spaceships, underwater Utopias to a fantastical city in the sky, Irrational have always been able to build a convincing world and lead you through it with some of the best storytelling in the business. It should be interesting to see what Levine has in store for the future.
Irrational’s last release will be Episode Two of Bioshock Infinite’s Burial At Sea DLC which releases next month so keep it tuned to all the usual channels for more news on that front.
Make their best game yet. Shutdown. Makes sense.
Nope. No. Never. Nope nope nope. Nuh uh. This isn’t happening.