The BioShock trilogy was perhaps one of the most important series of the PlayStation 3 generation, but fans looking for the next game from creator Ken Levine have been made to wait a lot longer than usual. It's been eight years since the auteur shuttered Irrational Games and set up shop with Ghost Story Games, developing a brand new title. According to a new report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, that project was originally slated to release as far as back as 2017. Fast forward another four years or so and Ken Levine's latest game is claimed to be "in development hell".
Information comes via sources speaking to Schreier under anonymity in order to protect themselves. They place much of the blame at Levine's feet, who is considered "a flawed manager who often struggles to communicate his vision and alienates or browbeats subordinates who challenge him or fail to meet his expectations".
The title and release window of Levine's next game are both unknown quantities, with many reboots and changes in direction contributing to the long wait for the project to be made public. According to one of Schreier's sources, the team is optimistic that development is back on track. However, they estimated a release could still be two years away.
Ken Levine formed Ghost Story Games along with 11 hand-picked members of Irrational Games back in 2014, with the new studio now owned by Take-Two. The publisher apparently hands the team a blank cheque and free reign to do what it likes. While this creative freedom may seem empowering, the Bloomberg report speaks to how the project quickly spiralled out of control.
A former employee said: "The ideas and ambitions were great, but the scope just grew and grew without concern for the team's ability to get it done by our fall 2017 deadline. Ken wanted to make a triple-A game with a 'budget' team size. It was never going to happen." Others described Levine as "charming and charismatic", but he can also "become moody and lash out, singling out an individual, while berating them in front of their co-workers". Half of the 11 former Irrational Games employees personally picked to help lead Ghost Story Games have now left the studio.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 36
The important keyword is „auteur“.
Yoooo I didn't know Ken Levine is working on Bioshock 4!! I thought someone else was. Even though "reportedly" the game is in development hell, I'm really pumped now about it as this is how I found out Ken himself is working on it. Hope it'll turn out according to Ken's vision.
Not a good look. You can’t just act that way and expect to get away with it anymore. The fact his hand-picked staff are leaving in droves is very telling.
@JAMes-BroWWWn He's not working on the next BioShock game. This is a completely different project.
I could never get into the Bioshock series, tried many times to do so, but the series just never clicked with me, which is odd considering Rapture is such a great setting for a game.
@JAMes-BroWWWn
Bioshock 4 is being developed by a team called Cloud Chamber. Ken no longer is part of the series and now building an entirely original game which is what this article is about.
I'm fine with this project being a narratively linear experience if it means I can actually play the damn thing at some point in my lifetime.
Coff Peter "Fable" guy developer coff
I am so utterly shocked /s
"Half of the 11 former Irrational Games employees personally picked to help lead Ghost Story Games have now left the studio"
How has nobody followed this up?! There's a person who cut their own legs off and left them there to leave the company!
@PegasusActual93 Should have read the article instead skipping through it, I guess. Thanks for the heads up.
I have said always in any business creativity etc is great. But you need focused managed to delivery a viable product on time.
This is one thing most of Sony Studios seem to be good at, focusing and delivery, within reason and ending up with an amazing AAA game.
Doesn't shock me he's a nightmare to work with as he's always had that moody edge to him in interviews, the fact his handpicked staff are leaving speaks wonders.
Well he was known for this back in the BioShock days so it should come as no surprise, really.
Read like a classic hit piece from a scumbag, agenda driven journalist
@Jacko11 Ehh practically everyone knows Ken Levine is exceptionally hard to work with and has a long track record of being an ***** on projects.
I know bashing producers is the cool thing to do these days but sometimes a creative like Ken needs someone to reel them in. There needs to be a balance between art and business. Lean too far on the business side and thats how we start seeing NFT nonsense in games. However if you lean too far on the art side we get games in development hell.
If I remember correctly, both Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite had their fair share of development trouble.
They did come out the other end very well received though, but development hell is never a nice place to be.
"If you're going through (development) hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill.
lemme guess, poor management, lack of coherent vision and direction, maybe you throw in some publisher interference and what you get is bin juice soup and 18 months of patches after several delays further to months' of crunch
That's too bad. Ken has some great ideas but he's only made 2 games in the last 15 years, with the most recent being 9 years ago. Hopefully this situation can be fixed so we can experience some creative games from that team again.
@Jacko11
Hi Ken!
in my best Batman voice
This smells like Duke Nukem Forever.
@Jacko11 Who took a dump on your breakfast today? 😅 It's been 8 years and he has nothing to show for it so it can't be all butterflies and rainbows in that studio.
Bioshock Vita back on track. Can't wait 🤪
I think creative people that end up somehow on the position of leading a team to work on their ideas should use the Elon Musk method: it doesn't matter how ambitious or completely crazy your ideas are, communicate it in a simple, clear and crisp way.
@Longondo Not really a generational issue, if Levine himself handpicked a team of people that have been with him since at least 2014.
@Korgon Some creatives are great managers as well, and some aren't. Levine doesn't sound like a great manager. People like that don't need someone to reel them in, people like that just shouldn't be in a position of power at all.
@Longondo It's always hard to judge situations like this. It can be near impossible to judge management of a team from the outside, but from experience I know it can also be near impossible to judge when you're within it yourself. I'm just glad I'm a developer and not a manager!
@Juanalf Final Fantasy 15 how long did that one take and they didnt even finish all the story DLC.
@Kidfried Nothing special with people on the wrong position i have seen it with so many companies. And i agree he should have someone above him to lead the team or maybe work with someone.
@Kidfried
True it's not across the board. I wasn't trying to make it sound like no creative types can handle the business side as well so I apologize if my comment came off that way.
Reading between the lines,having gone from shutting down his AAA studio in Irrational,sounds a bit like Mr Levine's design aspirations are still in a AAA headspace when he had a AA sized indie studio to facilitate them....bit of a recipe for problems!
What's more surprising is Take-two,the same parent company that penny-pinched on GTA Trilogy "Definitive remaster",outsourcing it to a small studio & cheapskating on the soundtracks,also give him a blank cheque & seemingly zero oversight!🤔
Levine made 3 of the very best games I have played in my whole life. I hope he gets his ***** together and reaches the deadlines with another top 50 goat.
@Korgon your comment didn't come across that way, just wanted to add to it! Cheers
So this article isn't about the next Bioshock game? Headline is very confusing.
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