The studio behind BioShock Infinite is no more

The studio responsible for both BioShock and BioShock Infinite is breaking up, according to a note from creative lead Ken Levine on the company’s website. Following the final content release this past month for Irrational Games’ latest work, BioShock Infinite, the company’s head (Levine) and a group of “about fifteen members of the Irrational team” formed a new, dramatically smaller venture within the parent company that owns Irrational (Take-Two Interactive — the same folks who own Grand Theft Auto-developer Rockstar Games, among others). That’s from a crew of nearly 200 at the peak of Infinite‘s development in Summer 2012. It’s not clear if Irrational will still be the name of the studio; either way, Levine said, “I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it.”

Levine and his new splinter crew will focus on one goal: “To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable.” In that vein, he’s “handing over the reins” of BioShock to Take-Two and going head down on his new, digital-only project(s). It’s also likely that Levine needs extra time for his non-gaming work, such as helping pen the remake to Logan’s Run.

Though BioShock 2 was developed by another Take-Two studio (2K Marin), both the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite were crafted in-house at Irrational Games; it’s unclear if the franchise will continue, but we’ve reached out to Take-Two for comment.

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Source: Irrational Games