14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Pachter, the analyst watching the video game industry for Wedbush Morgan, believes that the closure of the Irrational Games studio, which was recently announced by Ken Levine, will have a negative effect on the future of the BioShock franchise.
Despite the potential long-term problems, video game publisher Take Two will not be affected.
He tells GamesIndustry.biz that, “It hurts the prospects for the franchise long term. The game wasn’t coming out again until 2018 or so, meaning that it isn’t really a big deal to the company’s valuation.”
Lewis Ward, a research manager handling research for IDC, believes that the outlook for BioShock is more mixed and that Take Two will have to make a series of tough decisions.
He explains, “with Irrational no longer involved with BioShock, there is certainly the risk that quality will suffer on the next sequel, although realistically, we probably shouldn’t expect that for another 2-3 years. The good news is the new studio that Levine appears to be building at Take-Two sounds awfully interesting.”
Ken Levine, the leader of Irrational Games, has announced that he is leaving the studio and closing it down in order to create a smaller team inside Take Two that will have the freedom to pursue a new type of video game.
He plans to create replayable experiences that also offer narrative depth and expand the current boundaries of the video game space.
Take Two has not announced whether it will simply abandon the BioShock franchise or if it plans to get another studio to create a new title in the coming years.
Infinite was one of the best titles launched in 2013, impressing fans with its complex story, interesting characters and varied combat.
Fans will be able to get access to the second episode of the Burial at Sea downloadable content on March 25 on all platforms.