Cierra sorpresivamente Irrational Games (BioShock Infinite)

En una triste y sorpresiva noticia, Ken Levine, director creativo y co-fundador de Irrational Games, publicó un comunicado donde reveló que la compañía cerrará sus puertas y él se unirá a Take-Two donde se enfocará en desarrollar juegos digitales con un equipo mucho menor, luego de que lancen el último DLC para BioShock Infinite

“Diecisiete años es mucho tiempo para hacer cualquier trabajo, incluso el mejor. Y trabajar con el increíble equipo de Irrational Games es de hecho el mejor trabajo que he tenido nunca. Aunque estoy profundamente orgulloso de lo que hemos logrado juntos, mi pasión se ha movido a hacer un tipo diferente de juego del que hemos hecho antes. Para afrontar el reto por delante, tengo que volver a enfocar mi energía en un equipo más pequeño, con una estructura más plana y una relación más directa con los jugadores. De muchas maneras, será un retorno a la forma en que empezamos: pequeños equipo para hacer juegos para la audiencia de jugadores empedernidos.”

Levine no especificó que tipo de juego se refería aunque sugirió que ya tiene en mente su futro proyecto:

“Con el tiempo vamos a anunciar un nuevo proyecto con un nuevo objetivo: hacer  juegos impulsados por su narrativa, que sean altamente rejugables, para el jugador empedernido. Fomentar la relación más directa posible con nuestros fans, nos vamos a centrar exclusivamente en contenidos entregados digitalmente.”

No tengo ni que explicar porque esta es una malísima noticia. Mientras tantas compañías explotan sus franquicias hasta el cansancio, Irrational Games era de los pocos estudios que dedicaban tiempo a las suyas, logrando juegos con altísima calidad, ejemplo perfecto es el excelente y sublime BioShock Infinite.

Me deja tan mal sabor en el paladar pensar que este es el futuro de los videojuegos; la industria se está moviendo a juegos que se distribuyan solo por medios digitales que salgan rápido y repetitivos. Por otro lado, esperemos a ver que sale de este cambio; quizás Levine tenga en su mente la próxima gran cosa en el negocio.

Por el momento, me daré un viaje por Columbia y Rapture cuando salga el próximo DLC y tratare de disfrutarlos hasta el máximo. Quien sabe cuando vuelva a jugar algo tan bueno.

Aquí está el comunicado completo:

A Message From Ken Levine

When Jon Chey, Rob Fermier and I founded Irrational Games seventeen years ago, our mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters.
We built Rapture and Columbia, the Von Braun and The Rickenbacker, the Freedom Fortress and some of the nastiest basements a SWAT team ever set foot into. We created Booker and Elizabeth, the Big Daddy and the Little Sister, MidWives and ManBot. In that time, Irrational has grown larger and more successful than we could have conceived when we began our three-person studio in a living room in Cambridge, MA. It’s been the defining project of my professional life.

Now Irrational Games is about to roll out the last DLC for BioShock Infinite and people are understandably asking: What’s next?

Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. 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.

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.

Besides financial support, the staff will have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios. Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we’ll be hosting a recruiting day where we’ll be giving 3rd party studios and publishers a chance to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff.*

What’s next?

In time we will announce a new endeavor with a new goal: To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable. To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally.

When I first contemplated what I wanted to do, it became very clear to me that we were going to need a long period of design. Initially, I thought the only way to build this venture was with a classical startup model, a risk I was prepared to take. But when I talked to Take-Two about the idea, they convinced me that there was no better place to pursue this new chapter than within their walls. After all, they’re the ones who believed in and supported BioShock in the first place.

Thanks to Irrational and 2K’s passion in developing the games, and the fans who believe in it, BioShock has generated retail revenues of over a half billion dollars and secured an iconic place in gaming. 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.

-Ken Levine

[adrotate banner=”29″]