Irrational Games, the Bioshock studio, is closing down.

[Melbu Frahma]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132317-Irrational-Games-to-Close-After-BioShock-Infinite-DLC-Update

Can't say I'm too happy about this. Bioshock Infinite was one of the few games from last year I actually liked.

[Nase]

Then again, i enjoy seeing triple A veterans scaling down their operations and going back to small teams.

[Arrow]

I think in terms of what Ken Levine may be able to pull off in the future, this is fantastic news.

On the other hand, in terms of the ton of people that just got fired, it's much more horrible news, and I hope they quickly find solid positions elsewhere.

[relyanCe]

Also the chances of us seeing another good bioshock game is now effectively zero

[Newt]

Also the chances of us seeing another good bioshock game is now effectively zero

They were zero anyway, as that studio was unable to ship Infinite on time or on budget. It was one of the best selling games last year, and I'm not sure it covered losses from development. Levine probably didn't close down the studio because everything was going smoothly..

The East Coast has gotten hit really hard this past year. Hopefully the industry is able to recover out there.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Probably just another case of "too many cooks in the kitchen". Levine has always seemed like a dude that always had a grand vision that he wanted to see through. Going small is probably the best thing he could do for what he wants. If any of you got through the end of Infinite, you'd probably agree that he's much MUCH better at telling stories interactively than making what unfortunately at this point is otherwise just another FPS. A fun FPS no doubt, but ultimately another FPS in a Pacific Ocean of 'em.

[The Derrit]

If it is for the reason he stated (which is debatable) then I honestly think it's beyond egotistical and selfish for him to say "I want to make a small game so I'm going to fire most of my company and do what I want."

If this were in a different industry or on a different scale no one would be making excuses for Ken Levine. I cannot think of any other instance in which a large, successful company said 'ehhh I think we''ll change directions. Because of that, we're firing everybody,' without backlash.

Is this story more than the press release entails? Probably. So this is probably moot. But shutting down your own successful company to do what you feel like instead of just leaving it in the hands of someone else and then going to do what you feel like seems wrong to me.

[Kadosho]

Hopefully the team staff members can still find applying jobs in their fields. They are an awesome developer. Such a shame. v.v

[Melbu Frahma]

If it is for the reason he stated (which is debatable) then I honestly think it's beyond egotistical and selfish for him to say "I want to make a small game so I'm going to fire most of my company and do what I want."

If this were in a different industry or on a different scale no one would be making excuses for Ken Levine. I cannot think of any other instance in which a large, successful company said 'ehhh I think we''ll change directions. Because of that, we're firing everybody,' without backlash.

Is this story more than the press release entails? Probably. So this is probably moot. But shutting down your own successful company to do what you feel like instead of just leaving it in the hands of someone else and then going to do what you feel like seems wrong to me.

Yeah, I've been thinking this a lot lately. Really, about the only other field I can think of where this kind of thing is met with positive reactions is film/tv. A case might be able to be made for tech R & D, and maybe for sports (and teams don't close down, so it's a huge stretch there), but the headline for virtually any other field would be "Industry downsizing, jobs lost, what does this mean for the city they were based in," etc.