suliman on 18/2/2014 at 19:26
(
http://www.irrationalgames.com/) http://www.irrationalgames.com/
Quote:
A Message From Ken Levine
When Jon Chey, Rob Fermier and I founded Irrational Games seventeen years ago, our mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters.
We built Rapture and Columbia, the Von Braun and The Rickenbacker, the Freedom Fortress and some of the nastiest basements a SWAT team ever set foot into. We created Booker and Elizabeth, the Big Daddy and the Little Sister, MidWives and ManBot. In that time, Irrational has grown larger and more successful than we could have conceived when we began our three-person studio in a living room in Cambridge, MA. It's been the defining project of my professional life.
Now Irrational Games is about to roll out the last DLC for BioShock Infinite and people are understandably asking: What's next?
Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I've ever had. 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.
I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I'll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There's no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition. Besides financial support, the staff will have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios. Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we'll be hosting a recruiting day where we'll be giving 3rd party studios and publishers a chance to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff.*
What's next?
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. To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally.
When I first contemplated what I wanted to do, it became very clear to me that we were going to need a long period of design. Initially, I thought the only way to build this venture was with a classical startup model, a risk I was prepared to take. But when I talked to Take-Two about the idea, they convinced me that there was no better place to pursue this new chapter than within their walls. After all, they're the ones who believed in and supported BioShock in the first place.
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. If we're lucky, we'll build something half as memorable as BioShock.
We do our best to update an FAQ in this space as questions come in.
-Ken Levine
@iglevine
..why? Bioshock Infinite sold well enough, it was a huge critical success, everyone involved seemed to be pleased with it. It's not just about changing the studio's model or something- paragraph in bold states that most people will be losing their jobs here. Did he choose to do this? Why?
Ostriig on 18/2/2014 at 19:50
Good night, sweet prince. =(
Ostriig on 18/2/2014 at 20:22
More seriously, it's a curious move. I was under the impression that Infinite performed well, and I seem to remember that the original Bioshock was a commercial hit for Take-Two. I could certainly understand a decision from Levine to step back from the *shock IP if he's burnt out on it, or otherwise feels he's taken it everywhere he cares to, but usually in these situations the guy leaves and some other guy moves up.
I think we'll get a better idea once we know what happens to the Bioshock franchise. You'll note that at no point does he say there'll never be another Bioshock. So, if Take-Two turn around and give the series to another studio, that would indicate there were problems with Irrational itself. If they don't, well, then it's... odd. There's an old Romanian proverb about dogs not readily leaving the butcher's shop, and Bioshock is a pretty recognisable brand. Not that I'd mind, really, with Infinite it was the dramatic elements I loved, not the gameplay, and the original Bioshock I credit more for revalidating the concept of putting RPG bits into action games at the time, the game itself was good but it didn't blow my socks off. And their other stuff I haven't played, really. Includes System Shock 2, which is sitting on my shelf. So yeah, bring on the next IP, but I don't see why that would involve shuttering the studio.
At any rate, my sympathies go to the staff. They were a first rate crew, and I hope they all land on their feet.
Renault on 18/2/2014 at 20:35
Interesting that he makes mention of starting up a much smaller studio. I wonder if the industry is trending this way, with companies like Eidos losing money after their games sell between 4-8 million copies (although I'm sure all the Bioshocks sold way more than that). For someone as hugely successful as Levine has been, you'd think he'd go bigger instead of smaller.
suliman on 18/2/2014 at 20:35
The only explanation I can think of is that maybe BI really didn't sell enough. 4 million copies- the new Tomb Raider game sold more than that and still didn't turn a profit, and BI had a much longer development period, and likely a higher marketing budget. if this is why they shut down, then the AAA model really is becoming unsustainable- if irrational wasn't a sure thing, not many studios are.
On a more personal note, System Shock 2 was my first foray into the LGS school of games, and after TDP it's still my favorite. It's the reason I found TTLG. I can't say I'm a huge fan of their recent games, but their best stuff is still the best stuff around. RIP.
june gloom on 18/2/2014 at 20:39
It sounds like typical Ken Levine ego at work here. "I am Irrational, and I'm bored, so I'm shutting it down and starting a new studio."
Whatever, Ken, the best Bioshock is the one you had nothing to do with.
Jason Moyer on 18/2/2014 at 21:20
Smart move. Making massive games with hundreds of people and multiple studios is probably not going to be sustainable in the long run, no matter how successful those games are. I do kind of wonder if that's the motivation here or if Ken simply fancies himself an auteur and wants to make smaller games with more control (that sounds almost insulting, like I'm implying that he's pretentious or something, but I don't really see it as a bad thing).
june gloom on 18/2/2014 at 22:25
I do, but that's because Levine has an inability to follow through.
Muzman on 18/2/2014 at 23:28
I haven't kept up with all the details. Bioshock was basically it for me as far as games fandom goes. So I dunno all the side stories of Infinite's development.
On the face of it though this seems wise, if major-to-drastic action. It's been talked about for ages how hellish and precarious tripleA games development is. The real giant studios just make the same thing over and over (they expand and contract as the the releases dictate too, from what I understand it. Just not as much). Mid size studios trying to compete get frequently backed into a corner by publishers or just money itself, or do weird deals like the ones resulting in Aliens Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever.
I can well imagine Irrational looking around at all the big studio types available and not really being able to see themselves as one on a permanent basis.
june gloom on 19/2/2014 at 00:00
I don't understand why everyone bashes DNF. It's not a bad game. It's just a game that was already dated 5 years before it came out.
ACM is garbage though.
