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[BloodMoney]

It sounds like he basically is starting up an 'indie' team, but staying in the employ of 2K.

Yea... just wish he'd take a hint from what Chris Roberts has done, and make the leap into the realm of independently funded gaming.

 

[EatChildren]

Irrational wasn't going to survive another, even more expensive gen with their insanely costly/lengthy dev cycles unless Take-Two had truly lost it.

Interested to see what Levine accomplishes with a smaller team.

 

[Alpende]

Sucks for the studio. I hope the people that got fired can find new jobs quickly. Good on Irrational to promote their staff on the page and hold an event for employees to find new jobs.

 

[MKP64]

sigh.... Maybe it's for the best. Something had to happen because of how Infinite turned out.

 

[Chesskid1]

no wonder infinite came to PS+ so fast.

 

[drstk]

this came out of nowhere

 

[djshauny]

Um, WHAT?!

 

[VanWinkle]

Ken Levine better not be starting a studio for mobile games.

 

[Griss]

People getting fired is always a constant. Who it is is the variable.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

Wow

 

[Lunaniem]

Wow that's surprising. I wonder what this means for Burial at Sea Part 2.

Part 2 comes out March 25th so I imagine it's almost done and should still release on time.

 

[Interfectum]

Ken Levine better not be starting a studio for mobile games.

Most likely we'll see him on Steam Early Access.

 

[Gator86]

This is the new horrible reality of games that we live in. You can win multiple game of the year awards, be rated very highly and loved, and have your studio shut down or post massive losses.

The game industry is becoming 3 things: call of duty, candy crush, and dota/mobas.

If you don't love one of those three its going to be a rough generation.

This is incredibly depressing and accurate. Please stop...

 

[eso76]

Well.
Videogames, you had a good run.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

It took them ONE WHOLE YEAR to make two DLC episodes, I guess I'm not really surprised that they have to have been bleeding money for 2K.

Still sucks though..

 

[Grisby]

RIP sweet prince

Unprecedented partnership.

 

[maquiladora]

God damn this sucks. Hope everyone getting layed off finds work soon. So Ken wants a small team making digital only games? :-/

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Uhhh.. he couldn't sell the studio and save everyone's jobs? Wow.

 

[Dragon1893]

Holy shit...
Well, a lot of talent is up for grabs right now, I hope everyone finds a new job fast.
I guess Ken got tired of AAA development. It's probably safe to assume the man is exhausted.
But man, this came out of nowhere, I'm kinda shocked.

It took them ONE WHOLE YEAR to make two DLC episodes, I guess I'm not really surprised that they have to have been bleeding money for 2K.

Still sucks though..

It took ND over half a year to make Left Behind which is comparable in size and content to the BI episodes. That's not the issue, these things take time when you build them from the ground up. These dlc's don't recycle content from the main games. The message implies that it was a personal decision, not a financial one.

 

[Phire Phox]

Wow....

 

[Nirolak]

I think a better option would've been to give this team to someone who can manage a game... Obviously Fergusson bolted but they should've found someone with a similar pedigree and given them the studio and then let Levine do his own thing under a new name.

I'm guessing they find Boston too expensive and are farming out BioShock to a cheaper location.

 

[entremet]

It's important to point out that this is actually part of an ongoing process that people didn't really complain about until it started hitting studios they personally enjoyed.

When the shovelware started getting culled from consoles, very few complained. Less trouble separating the wheat from the chaff.

When the B titles started getting culled, people lamented a bit but chalked it up to survival of the fittest.

Then AA developers like Insomniac or Silicon Knights started feeling the crunch, and the laments got louder but again survival of the fittest was a common refrain.

Now the AAA developers are beginning to fall, and the laments will likely hit a crescendo. I will only state that this is a consequence of the relentless, constant demand for higher and higher production values from bother gamers and publishers alike. Within a few years, only a small handful of games will able to keep up with the AAA Joneses.

1st party is the other option. 1st party studios can take more risk since they have big brother backing them. This is precisely why a game like TLOU could be made.

 

[zackmorris]

Is there a TL;DR version of what happened?

Looks like Levine just felt it was time to move in a new direction and make a different type of game. Which meant working with a much smaller team.

 

[RadarScope1]

Big news indeed. I for one believe the story on its face. I'd want to scale down if I were Ken, too, after taking six years to make BI. This is where gaming is headed. The most important words in the statement to me were "making games for core gamers." Good. We need you doing that, Ken. More than ever, we need it.

Also sounds like they are treating the transition for employees with great care. Remember, corporations that answer to shareholders as T2 does have ZERO obligation to do anything like what's described here.

 

[WanderingWind]

Hope whatever Levine comes up with next is awesome. I can't help but feel a bit sad that the Irrational we've known and loved is basically done.

 

[Alkastelca]

Why Ken ? Why would you do that

 

[Saty]

What's a 'narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable'? Seems contradictory. Highly replayable suggest MP-focused game. Narrative-driven suggests SP-focused game.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Wow this is one of the more surprising closings in a long time to me. The Bioshock series I thought was popular and a money maker??

Maybe a few of the designers and such can head over to Naughty Dog and some other Sony first party studios. They would be welcomed with open arms no doubt.

And I hear Sony is expanding its first parties, so hey. I doubt these guys will be out of work for long at all.

Does one person have the power to close an entire studio though? I mean ... yeah you can leave ... but close it down entirely?

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

It's important to point out that this is actually part of an ongoing process that people didn't really complain about until it started hitting studios they personally enjoyed.

When the shovelware started getting culled from consoles, very few complained. Less trouble separating the wheat from the chaff.

When the B titles started getting culled, people lamented a bit but chalked it up to survival of the fittest.

Then AA developers like Insomniac or Silicon Knights started feeling the crunch, and the laments got louder but again survival of the fittest was a common refrain.

Now the AAA developers are beginning to fall, and the laments will likely hit a crescendo. I will only state that this is a consequence of the relentless, constant demand for higher and higher production values from bother gamers and publishers alike. Within a few years, only a small handful of games will able to keep up with the AAA Joneses.

While that is what is probably happening in the industry, I don't think it applies to this thread. Bioshock is still with 2K and they will be replacing Irrational with another team. I really do think this is simply Levine and a few others wanting to explore other more lucrative opportunities with other game models. Why Irrational had to close down in order for this to happen is a good question, but I suspect that the answer is a lot more mundane than what others are suggesting - probably to do with accounting or financial purposes.

 

[nampad]

Wow, didn't see that coming. Still need to play the Bioshocks which where critically praised so much.
Even if they weren't profitable, I thought the team has proven to be very good. Can't understand why it has to be dissolved even with Levine and other leaving for something smaller at Take 2.

Now is a chance for the vultures to get some talent.

But Bioshock Vita...

That's what I thought. Maybe Levine delivers a Vita game with his new smaller studio. You promised Ken

 

[jett]

Irrational wasn't going to survive another, even more expensive gen with their insanely costly/lengthy dev cycles unless Take-Two had truly lost it.

Interested to see what Levine accomplishes with a smaller team.

An extremely convoluted version of Gone Home.

 

[Totobeni]

so 2K Czech last month and now this. how is the overall situation on "2K studios" now?

 

[enfieldvball]

Soooooo no more Bioshock or.....?

 

[Flarin]

Uhhh.. he couldn't sell the studio and save everyone's jobs? Wow.

He already did. 2K owns Irrational.

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

Well there goes the little interest I had in AAA games. Should be interesting to see what Ken does with a smaller team.

 

[jiminycracken]

What the hell were the expectations for it? It sold over 4m units in four months.

As much as Destiny, it needed to sell 10 million just to be profitable.

Spoiler

I'm kidding.

 

[Lasthope106]

Is this April 1st?! WTF!

 

[Chronoja]

What's a 'narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable'? Seems contradictory. Highly replayable suggest MP-focused game. Narrative-driven suggests SP-focused game.

The Stanley Parable is a narrative driven game with high re playability.

 

[dimb]

This seems like the logical outcome for the studio. I can't even begin to imagine the creative efforts that went to waste underneath the management.

 

[Arion]

I'm interested in seeing how he makes a narrative driven game replayable. with a much smaller team and assuming a much smaller budget this sounds ambitious.

Best of luck to those who got fired but with their track records it should'n't be hard to get new jobs

 

[Nirolak]

Soooooo no more Bioshock or.....?

No, a new dev will take it over:

Thanks to Irrational and 2K’s passion in developing the games, and the fans who believe in it, BioShock has generated retail revenues of over a half billion dollars and secured an iconic place in gaming. I’m handing the reins of our creation, the BioShock universe, to 2K so our new venture can focus entirely on replayable narrative.

 

[muzzymate]

W.T.F.! Just stunned... stunned! I hope all the people let go find work too and I look forward to his next title.

Also, just realized I bought the original Bioshock four times, Bioshock Infinite twice, and Burial at Sea once. Loved the games Irrational produced!

 

[El Sloth]

Well, this has me conflicted.

On one hand, I'm really excited to see Ken Levine will be able to make with a smaller more intimate team. It sounds like it could potentially be an environment that could really get the creative juices going.

On the other hand, Irrational seemed like a fairly big company and suddenly for all those people to be layed off... at least it sounds like they're doing all they can to make sure everyone lands on their feet somewhere in the industry. And of course, I'll miss the sort of things only a big group of talented devs could produce.

What a shame. I really hope the ones being layed off don't have hard time finding place at another company.

Still, I'll choose to be tentatively excited for this new group of Levine's. A small group with the backing of a big company like Take Two; I'm really interested in just what sorts of things they'll come up with.

 

[charsace]

Gaming market is gonna go through a change. KL probably came to the conclusion that his setup wasn't sustainable.

 

[Stimpack]

Well, he talked about leaving the industry...

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Wow. Bioshock is amazing, I wanted more from them.

 

[Spinx]

Why Ken ? Why would you do that

Like Ken had any say in this.

 

[plasmawave]

I blame Jim Sterling for bitching about Infinite's cover not having Elizabeth.

 

[GCX]

There must be financial stuff related to this. If Levine only wanted to start from scratch he wouldn't had to shut Irrational down, just give it to someone else.

 

[Cat Party]

No, Take-Two told him he couldn't keep the studio going as is and offered him this as the only option to keep anyone on board, but obviously he's not going to say that publicly.

They didn't mention BioShock Infinite in their recent fiscal report. It's pretty obvious it was not up to expectations sales wise and they're unwilling to keep going with Irrational's cost structure and dev lengths.

This seems likely to me.