The long-term future of the innovative franchise hangs in the balance

Feb 22, 2014 17:46 GMT  ·  By

Ken Levine has announced this week that he is planning to shut down his studio, Irrational Games, after it launches the full second episode of the Burial at Sea downloadable content for last year’s BioShock Infinite.

He is doing this in order to create a nimbler development entity inside publisher TakeTwo, which is designed to work on narrative games with a lot of replayability that are set to be launched exclusively via digital distribution.

The game maker is thanking all the fans that have supported the titles launched by Irrational Games and is promising that he is exploring various ideas at the moment that will solidify into an interesting set of experiences.

I always liked Ken Levine, his game design ethos, his focus on interesting narratives and mechanics and his willingness to take risks and create a high-profile franchises that subverted player expectations at certain points.

I do believe that he has the skills to succeed in his new venture and to create some new titles that will surprise his own fan base.

The big question now is: what happens to BioShock as a franchise after the launch of the second episode of Burial at Sea?

The franchise was very successful for publisher Take Two, so it’s highly unlikely that it will simply be terminated out of respect for its original creator.

So there’s a big chance that another team inside the publisher will take over the reins, probably tasked with creating another AAA release targeted at the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.

The last time someone other than Ken Levine was in charge of BioShock, we got the second title in the series, which was competent but a little disappointing.

So let’s hope that Take Two manages to put together a talented group of developers that will treat the series with the respect it deserves.