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[ultron87]

It seems weird that Ken would write this letter that makes him seem like the villain if it was actually a financial decision from up top. But I suppose when you consider that he gets to stay at 2K it makes a little more sense.

Gotta cut that heel promo to stay in the company.

 

[davepoobond]

Sucks but it sounds like a smart move. I can't imagine take 2 being able to take that much of a loss on another bio shock game.

 

[I-hate-u]

They take 5-7 years for almost every game they make, so even when they sell millions upon millions they can still lose money.

A single game bombing also becomes a huge problem because when even things like Spec Ops cost $50+ million, you have to sell a ton of copies to make up that loss.

Borderlands and NBA come out on a regular schedule, but Gearbox and the NBA have significant profit sharing on those as they own their respective IPs.

Oh wow.

Sounds like mismanagement and development hell.

 

[funkystudent]

Infinite didn't sell as well as they hoped? It sold over 4 million units. How much did they expect it to sell?

Dat Dev time though.

Game must have been a giant money pit for 2K.

 

[PFD]

What the fuck? I thought Bioshock Infinite did well.

Not surprised. Tons of delays, and didn't KL say they cut an insane amount of content while changing the story? That stuff costs a ton of money

 

[Calmine]

Huge disappointment. RIP.

 

[Phediuk]

So I guess that Bioshock Vita game isn't happening anymore.

Also, I'm a bit disturbed that some people in here are taking Levine's word that the closure is his own decision, as if it's normal to shut down a whole studio rather than just leave when you're tired of it.

 

[Pooya]

Well, I guess he burned too much money on Infinite and it didn't exactly return very well. It's more disappointing than shocking really.

 

[Drencrom]

This is fucked up

I hope all the people at IR that lost their job land on their feet and preferably find their way to devs/studios I like.

 

[JawzPause]

Wow, really unexpected news. Hope everyone finds jobs.

 

[Sectorseven]

Rockstar released a game/year for the last couple of years that are multi-million sellers. Borderlands/DLC and NBA2K are also multi-million sellers. How is T2 not profitable?

There's so much data we're lacking to even speculate. Maybe they were trying to budget their next game and the risk/reward just wasn't there. As good as their games can be, they take a long time to make them.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

You mean something like System Shock? Bioshock was basically System Shock/SS2 all over again, but not in space.

Nextgen would offer a fundamentally different experience in space from SS.

 

[Sylverstone14]

Well, that came out of nowhere...

 

[djshauny]

https://twitter.com/SHGames/status/435839178148806656

 

[kutthoat5150]

wow that was unexpected

 

[Team Filler]

Nevermind my personal feelings towards Bioshock Infinite, layoffs really suck and I hope Shawn and the rest quickly land on their feet. Best of luck to all of you.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Video game industry turning more and more into the movie/vfx industry. The movies/games make tons of money but job security sucks for those in the trenches.

 

[Lonely1]

Why don't they start their own dev team?

Who's going to pay the bills? I'm sure at least some of them would be up to it if you can hook them with an investor.

 

[kuYuri]

Nice to see studios reaching out to the employees of Irrational.

Edit: Beaten.

 

[Parakeetman]

Ok officially day ruined and its just 0300 here...

 

[Cow Mengde]

See, that is the problem.

The expectations may be unrealistic, but they are what a game that costs that much needs to sell.

Plus, this is just the beginning of a new generation. I wonder how much worse the bloodbath will be compared to last generation.

 

[kirblar]

It seems weird that Ken would write this letter that makes him seem like the villain if it was actually a financial decision from up top. But I suppose when you consider that he gets to stay at 2K it makes a little more sense.

Gotta cut that heel promo to stay in the company.

There's not actually a villain here. Take-Two's position is reasonable. So is Ken's. Change is messy.

 

[Xater]

New wave folks. Auteurs are stepping away from the studio system.

As much as I would love that it sounds like he is still with 2K.

 

[scitek]

So he and CliffyB are going to team up, huh? Weirdness.

 

[DryvBy]

Wow, insane. Hopefully BioShock won't turn into something crappy. I love the series.

 

[El Sloth]

See, that is the problem.

The expectations may be unrealistic, but they are what a game that costs that much needs to sell.

I wish one of the larger AAA devs were as transparent as the Skullgirls devs were during their crowdfunding campaign so we could really get a better idea of exactly how expensive these games are to make. A breakdown of where all the costs are. That'll probably never happen though.

 

[angular graphics]

That sounds wonderful if you ask me!

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I'm pretty shocked. How sad. It's too bad the irrational name is dead again.

 

[silver.tongue]

AAA gaming is going the way of comic books in the mid 90's.

This is what it feels like.
The middle tier developer is done.

You either go huge with warranties from your publisher or you go indie with a smaller project.

People hating on indies nowadays are in route to a huge wake up call when they realize indies will make 80% of the games going foward.

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

Smart man, change course before he hits the burn-out wall.

 

[eot]

Infinite didn't sell as well as they hoped? It sold over 4 million units. How much did they expect it to sell?

Probably a lot more than that considering they spent over five years making it.

 

[bidguy]

wow sad day for gaming

 

[DexterPepper]

Very sad. Looking forward to what comes out of this "refocusing" though.

Best of luck to everyone affected.

 

[Oersted]

Oh wow.

Sounds like mismanagement and development hell.

Why do you think has GTA F2P now? Getting the costs back in.

 

[NIGHT-]

Does this mean no GOTY release of Bioshock infinite?

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

So he and CliffyB are going to team up, huh? Weirdness.

Sounds like it's a good time to be a PC gamer.

Sucks for those losing their jobs. Hopefully they land on their feet.

Does this mean no GOTY release of Bioshock infinite?

2k will probably release one

 

[Exokell]

This is Ken Levine's fault, infinite took so many years to make, they redid it multiple times, he thought of a high concept game but the result was basically bioshock in sky.

 

[wrowa]

https://twitter.com/SHGames/status/435839178148806656

I like Sledgehammer. But... uhm... hey guys at Irrational, if you have the choice, please don't waste your talent at a studio that seemingly is the next gear in the Call of Duty milking machine.

 

[JohngPR]

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.

It's more than likely logistics. You're not going to keep hundreds of people to make what will probably amount to an indie game.

 

[LiK]

Does this mean no GOTY release of Bioshock infinite?

That'll come out anyway.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Wow, this is terrible. Best of luck to all those affected.

 

[gamechanger87]

And 343 is reaching out to guys at Irrational. Really interested to see where a lot of these guys end up.

Best of luck to all.

 

[Meier]

Wait time out.

If Levine wanted to work on something new with a smaller team why didn't he just leave Irrational and form a new studio? Those fine folks at the company have no business losing their jobs after creating some critically and commercially successful titles.

I hope there's more to this story because at first glance it seems unbelievably selfish on Levine's part.

Irrational is Ken Levine. They're not going to keep funding the studio without his involvement. I'm sure he had no interest in making another massive Bioshock game and they weren't happy about the timeline of development compared to the yield from sales. It seems like they must have been a fairly small studio if only 15 people are being laid off. You'd think they'll probably be absorbed pretty easily.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Studio that makes GOTYs all the time is left to die, while studios with insanely shitty games keep on getting funded by AAA publishers.

Insane. Hilarious.

Their games will live on forever, and sequels will be bastardized but I'm glad they existed. Biggest loss to the industry right here. Thank you for the good times.

 

[Hari Seldon]

A 15 person studio is probably around the optimal size going forward for the majority of the industry. Give me a 10m budget with no lowest-common-denominator game design any day.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Strange, sad, and surprising news.

To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable.

I would be very keen to see if they can pull this off.

 

[Saty]

Infinite didn't sell as well as they hoped? It sold over 4 million units. How much did they expect it to sell?

More than Bioshock 1? And for a bigger budgeted game with a troubled dev.

 

[EGOMON]

This is just sad :'(

 

[Lingitiz]

I like Sledgehammer. But... uhm... hey guys at Irrational, if you have the choice, please don't waste your talent at a studio that seemingly is the next gear in the Call of Duty milking machine.

Although they'd be making COD, not many devs get the benefit of 3 year cycles these days. And Sledgehammer seems like they have a really nice and modern office space.

 

[Chronoja]

Oh wow.

Sounds like mismanagement and development hell.

In any other industry it probably would be, but this is the video game industry and sadly this has become the norm