Irrational Games, studiet bag Bioshock og Bioshock Infinite, skærer massivt ned, meddelte studiechefen Ken Levine i går aftes. Alle ansatte, pånær 15 folk, forlader studiet, der fremover vil fokusere på mindre projekter.
I en besked på Irrational Games' website forklarer Levine beslutningen, hvad den betyder for ham personligt og for studiet som helhed:
"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," skriver han. Mange af de ansatte vil få tilbudt stillinger hos andre af 2K Games' studier, og de vil også snakke med udviklerstudier udefra om at hyre personale fra Irrational.
"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", skriver Levine.
Levine skriver, at hans intention er at lave flere historiedrevne spil til kernespillerne med stor genspilningsværdi, og han ønsker så direkte et forhold til fansene som muligt, hvorfor disse spil kun vil blive udgivet digitalt.
2K Games overtager desuden Bioshock-serien, skriver han: "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."
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