Among the most brilliantly crafted games ever produced, BioShock Infinite posed an enormous challenge during its development. The task of bringing “Project Icarus” to fruition called for colossal dedication from every member at Irrational Games, including creative director and primary writer Ken Levine. Despite being hailed as a triumph in both critical acclaim and commercial success, within a year of release, Irrational Games ceased operations. This unexpected closure of the studio left the entire gaming industry, including Levine, stunned.
As a gamer, I recently dived into the latest issue of Edge magazine, thanks to my subscription via PC Gamer. In this edition, Ken Levine shared his thoughts on the challenging phase he experienced during the development of BioShock Infinite, a shift that was partly due to the massive team expansion from BioShock to Infinite (BioShock 2 was handled by 2K Marin, if you’re familiar with the series, it’s like Dark Souls 2 in terms of development teams). Despite these hurdles, Infinite received an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers when it launched in 2013 and has since surpassed 11 million copies sold. Levine shed light on where things went wrong:
As your aspirations expand, you find yourself thrust into management duties, which may not align with your formal training or abilities. During the creation of ‘Infinite’, my mental health deteriorated significantly due to stress and personal issues. Additionally, I was dealing with the loss of both parents, and it all became too much. I felt drained and uncertain about whether my team trusted me to continue.
To shift focus to a smaller project, Levine assembled a key team of developers and embarked on the lengthy process that eventually resulted in Judas and Ghost Story Games. Levine had anticipated that Irrational would remain under Take-Two’s umbrella, which seemed logical given that the initial two games were later remastered by Blind Squirrel Games as part of BioShock: The Collection.
In simpler terms, the speaker wanted to explain to Take-Two that he intended to initiate a new project while keeping the spirit of Irrational Games alive, as he believed they would continue the company. However, since he had sold the company and was now working under Take-Two, it wasn’t his decision to make. He felt that continuing the studio as a going concern could have been a wise choice, especially considering Take-Two’s successful BioShock remaster. The speaker believed this would have provided an excellent opportunity for Irrational Games to restructure, appoint new creative leaders, and build upon their success once they regained confidence to create another BioShock game. Unfortunately, he felt that at the time, he was not a suitable leader for the team anymore.
Despite more than a decade in development, there’s no confirmed release date yet, but it might just appear unexpectedly. However, Take-Two, the developers, have stated in their 2023 financial reports that they aim to launch Judas by March 2025 – a deadline that’s fast approaching. No worries, Ken!
Are you just as eagerly waiting for Levine’s next game as we are? Can Judas potentially captivate our minds, much like BioShock and Infinite did when we were younger? Please try to manage your expectations in the comment section below.
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2025-01-09 06:36