Games developer behind Bioshock is shutting down
Games developer Irrational Games has announced that it's shutting down operations.
Irrational is best known for its 2007 title Bioshock which has to date generated revenues of over half a billion dollars.
The first-person shooter – set in a city built under the Atlantic ocean – is widely considered one of the most groundbreaking games ever produced. Its art deco aesthetic and engaging political narrative – its ultra-libertari
The 2013 follow-up Bioshock: Infinite was one of the best selling games of last year and topped many critics’ year-end lists. Irrational’s first hit title was 1999’s acclaimed System Shock 2, another boundary-pushin
City A.M. games reviewer Steve Dinneen says: “Bioshock’s influence really can’t be underestimated. Pretty much every FPS released since has borrowed from it in some way and it’s spawned a sub-industry of toys and spin-off novels. It’s a sad day for the games industry.”
In an open letter founder Ken Levine explains that the next update for Bioshock Infinite will be the company's last release.
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.
Irrational Games has been around for 17 years, and Levine will now move to a "smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two," which owns 2K Games.
Levine says that his new goal is to "make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable." Rights to the Bioshock universe will be passed to 2K.
Staff will receive financial support, and will have a short period of time to "say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios."