Support NeoGAF

[gofreak]

Not really sure this is telling the full story.

Only reason I can see for them to wind down the studio is if Take2 dictated it, decided to close it.

Winding it down just because Ken Levine wants to make a different type of game would...well, not reflect very well on the people involved, namely Ken Levine. If that's all that was going on he should just leave and found a new studio, rather than taking Irrational down with him.

I'm guessing it has to be a case of Take 2 saying 'sorry, we need to trim down this team', and Ken Levine is just trying to save face a bit by making it sound like it was under his control.

 

[RurouniZel]

What on earth? That's out of left field to be sure...

 

[Tobor]

This is indeed sad...

On the other hand, I'm sort of excited to see what Ken does with a 15 man team.

The "not another shooter" folks are getting their wish, it looks like.

 

[Devilgunman]

So.... he closed down Irrational, took some employees with him and opened a new studio inside the same publisher?

Isn't this a bit.....irrational?

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

Fuck this. I wanted to see Bioshock in space with Levine at helm.

 

[kubus]

I don't get it, I thought Infinite sold really well?

Were they forced to close down or is this Levine's own decision?

What the fuck

 

[Meier]

Very surprising development. Infinite was a poor game and I guess he must have felt constricted by the success of "Bioshock" -- this is a good way to get a sort of fresh start I suppose.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Wasn't Infinite a success? Couldn't Ken just start a different team instead of shutting the whole thing down?

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.

 

[sevenchaos]

Change is good.

 

[bender]

Good luck to those affected by the layoffs. How big was the team?

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

So Ken Levine wants to work on a new game with a smaller team, so the solution is to shut the company down and fire all but 15 people?

No way that's the whole story, right? There must be some sales-related stuff they're simply not telling us. Maybe their expectations for Infinite were a lot bigger than we thought.

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

For as much shit I gave the Bioshock series, never would I wish for this end result. Terrible news and I hope the grunts find work quickly.

 

[Darksol]

Quick, somebody find the lighthouse where Irrational Games is announcing Bioshock 4.

 

[Shard]

I wonder if we will learn the supposed real story behind this.

 

[Krusenstern]

Finally. Now he can work on something else after a generation of Bioshock.

 

[Tyrax]

That's a fate worse than death

The legacy of kain turned into a multiplayer battle game, think about it

 

[Acquiescence]

I know Bioshock Infinite had a troubled development history, but I thought the game was unequivocally a commercial success. Or maybe it's got nothing to do with BI. Rubbish news.

 

[Trevelyon]

God fucking dammit. God damn it. Damn it damn damn damn IT.

 

[Poker Face]

Really shocked by this.

Damn

 

[Radec]

What the what the fuck???

 

[Erudite]

While I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite, it felt a little all over the place, trying to find a balance between mass market & core gamer appeal.

I can't remember what podcast I heard this from, but a point was made where creative focus can be lost with a larger studio & budget, potentially what happened with Infinite.

Hoping this shift and desire to making a product for the 'core gamer' market leads to a more focused product.

 

[And_Gignac]

Ugh. How can the developers of the second best rated game last year plus decent sales go under so easily? Something is extremely wrong with this industry.

 

[MavFan619]

Sorry to hear this espcially for those who have to go look for a job now

 

[Arthea]

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.

thanks for confirming my suspicions.
It's a pity, really

 

[Interfectum]

He spent 5 (?) years on a game that took a weekend to beat. This was inevitable.

 

[Goodacre0081]

nobody is safe

 

[Remachinate]

Oh wow, this is terrible news.

Is it? I'm in the camp of those who were underwhelmed by Infinite, and I think the game suffered from the expectations placed on Irrational by its parent company to deliver a blockbuster. Maybe having the chance to do what he wants again without external demands will let Ken produce something on the level of his earlier works. The "narrative-driven" part of his vision troubles me (as I think that's what hurt Infinite most), but I'm encouraged by the "highly replayable" part.

It's always unfortunate for people to lose their jobs, but it might be necessary for a better product, and Take-Two seems to be handling it with as much support as possible for those laid off.

 

[dmr87]

Damn.

 

[Vire]

WHAT THE FUCK?

NO!

 

[denshuu]

I thought they were doing well?

The big block of text you skipped in the first post explains why this is happening.

 

[EGOMON]

I don't want to be a gaming dev this business is scary! One day its all good and dandy the next thing you know is shutdown and layoffs.
/sadface

 

[Dragonborn]

But why? Did infinite not sell enough or is Levine just burnt out (for big games at least)

 

[btkadams]

they're obviously reducing staff down to just the bioshcok vita team, right?? RIGHT?!

 

[schwabdizzle]

This sounds more like a band break up than a studio going out of Business.

 

[LiK]

He spent 5 (?) years on a game that took a weekend to beat. This was inevitable.

Oh c'mon

 

[OldAsUrSock]

"In time we will announce a new endeavor with a new goal: To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable"

I'm surprised more people aren't moaning about this line. I welcome this focus.

This is a problem with this industry. Too many devs want to make movies, so they can get GOTY like The Last of Us. It was obvious to me that Bioshock Infinite was their attempt at a movie-like experience.

 

[Dio Brando]

I like that although understandable, the reactions most people are having gives me the impression they didnt even read Ken Levine Message. Of course, this is really bad for the guys who are not getting recruited for his new team, but at least they can go to other studios on 2K.
What makes me sorta cautious is that now 2K owns the Bioshock IP, in the sense that the next games wont be made by Irrational, and that's sorta scary. We'll see how things develop in the next years, i guess...

 

[Deleted member 10571]

Alright, I'm legit surprised. Didn't expect that at all.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Huh? Levine wants to make games with a smaller team so they nuke the whole company from orbit?


Somebody ain't telling us the whole story, yo.

 

[Coffee Dog]

"In time we will announce a new endeavor with a new goal: To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable"

I'm surprised more people aren't moaning about this line. I welcome this focus.

Why would we moan about this? If his narratives start hitting the heights of system shock and bioshock as opposed to the inception-level shallowness of infinite, his games will actually excel at something again instead of being mediocre at everything.

Focus was what bioshock infinite needed, in either gameplay or story. This news is great.

 

[LeonDekoda]

No...no....please gods no...

 

[Trickster]

From how Ken words it. I'm actually happy about this. Bioshock Infinite was a terrible game imo, that adopted alot of the stuff that games that aim for the superficial mainstream audience tend to go for. So to hear him saying that he will switch to making games for the core audience, with a big focus on high replayability is sweet music to my ears.

Of course it sucks for the 15 people that got laid off.

 

[Scorpion Soldier]

This is a sad day...

 

[ironcreed]

Sad news, but a smaller and more focused team may yield tighter and more focused results. Best of luck and I am looking forward to what comes next.

 

[ymmv]

Infinite didn't sell up to expectations, it was never going to be sustainable

This could well be the reason. Don't forget that Bioshock Infinite took six years to make. The development costs of a six year project with a huge team must be enormous.

 

[BloodMoney]

He's sticking with Take Two.

Yea just read that.

"I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two"

Hopefully smaller equates to more flexibility in game design.

 

[statham]

No! No! No!

 

[keit4]

Fuck, from out of nowhere

 

[Draft]

Wowwwwwwwwe! I'm ready to love again ken. Show me the old ken still lives!!!

What great news!

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

The Irrational staff will no doubt find work, but best of luck to them to find something that is a good fit for them and their family. I hope Take-Two makes a sequel to Infinite a la Bioshock 2. They invested way too much time and money into the concept to let it die after the ambitious yet only somewhat good Bioshock Infinite.

As for Levine, I don't know what to think about the guy. I'll of course, keep an eye on his new endeavors with the 15 Irrational staff but even with Bioshock, which I loved, he needs to get his head out of his own self indulgent ass and be a little more efficient.