BioShock Infinite devs jump ship to Microsoft
Reports and LinkedIn pages suggest that combat design director Clint Bundrick and artificial intelligence lead Don Norbury are the latest developers to depart Irrational Games.
Following reports in August that two of Irrational Games' top developers--director of product development Tim Gerritsen and 13-year studio veteran and former art director Nate Wells--had left the company, it now appears that the BioShock Infinite studio may have lost another two of its team members.
According to Superannuation and Kotaku, Irrational Games combat design director Clint Bundrick and artificial intelligence lead Don Norbury had both left the studio earlier this month to join, as detailed by their individual LinkedIn accounts (here and here).
Following the departure of Gerritsen and Wells in August, Irrational announced that the original BioShock art director, Scott Sinclair, would fill Wells' role amid reports of multiplayer cancellations. Irrational later brought in Epic Games production director Rod Fergusson to help complete the game.
BioShock Infinite was announced in 2010, and was originally scheduled to be launched this month. In the run up to the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo--at which it was not present-- it was announced that the game would be delayed to February 2013.
When BioShock Infinite does ship, it will do so with great sales expectations. In August 2011, one analyst suggested that the game would be a significant financial boon for Take-Two, saying that it could ship 4.9 million copies.
BioShock Infinite is set in a chaos-plagued airborne metropolis called Columbia. Gamers assume the role of Booker DeWitt, a former member of the feared Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was the nation's largest security company in the late 19th century.
For more on BioShock Infinite, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.
I sure hope this game isn't effected by the losses. My most anticipated game for 2013 easily.
Lets hope this game is still going to be epic
Nothing is infinite.
Ugh this is a double edged sword because I want this game now but I don't want it to not be polished!
Wonder if everything is all well over there at Irrational. Sure have been people with important roles leaving the team.
Why are some people moving from irrational? They are a great studio :\
Not cool. Definitely seems like something's amiss at Irrational.
Makes me think that Irrational is not the best place to work at. So many top people are jumping ship right around the same time. Corporate must be involved.
StJerK The creator of Bioshock, Ken Levine, was forced to relinquish control of the team and project on the first Bioshock because of personal differences and he's now in charge of Infinite after another team involving Bioshock 1 devs if I remember correctly delivered Bioshock 2. That people are jumping ship again shows that there must be some problem at top level management and I don't think the two are unrelated.
Wow well get ready for them to work on Wonderbook.
damn... so PC gaming universe lost another great team... how much do you want to bet they will work on the new xbox platform making exclusive titles ?
diabolik_023 That's kind of what "Jumps ship to Microsoft" means...
Maybe M$ will start its own line of steampunk awesomeness....
Lotus-Edge And then you woke up.
Hopefully they are going to get working on reviving some of those Rare licenses they own. One can dream...
aluccard I double what was said to Lotus-Edge, "and then you woke up".
Let's....finish...the...game. Thanks.
Fartman7998 That's a skill that has long been lost thanks to things such as DLC.
I still can't wait for this game!
I guess, it is better to wait and get a fine product than demand hasty game development and frustrate.
Bioshock games are great! But I am sorry they cant hold a candle to the system shock games. Its too bad things went down hill after system shock 2, and the 3rd game never left the drawing board. Glad it was resurrected as bio shock. But still hoping to see system shock 3
Here's to hoping this game is still what we all hope it to be. I have to admit, I am slightly worried given the delay coupled with quite a few devs departing the project. This has been year of disappointments. In my opinion, the following games disappointed significantly from their previous incarnations: Resident Evil 6, Ninja Gaiden 3, Silent Hill Downpour, NCAA Football 13, and more.
Now, that is just my opinion. I feel many of these games turned out to be a disappointment given my experience with them, fan reaction on this site, and various reviews I read. 2012 seems to be the year of disappointment for many top titles. Let's hope 2013 brings in some better competition. With a new Halo, Bioshock, Metal Gear, Dead Space, and others on the way, it could be a fun year. Though I will say, one of my favorite releases this year is Borderlands 2. Guns and Loot. Works for me.
No loss. The Bioshock Infinite project looks brilliant and the series will prevail with new replacements. The video game industry is pretty versatile; there is lots of talent out there.
Watching the extended gameplay trailers on YouTube the game looks damn fine to me and I don't have any worries about its quality, my pre-order will stay put. Its a BioShock game, its belongs in my Steam library!
Time to consider cancelling my pre-order... this is starting to sound more and more like a car crash waiting to happen.
TTDog
Not to me honestly, as long as Ken Levine stays on board, who is the actual visionary and creator of the series, I don't care, I mean in the end nothing happens without his approval.
Been a fan of his since System Shock 2, and has never let me down yet.
Volgin TTDog System Shock was a great series.
@TTDog Why?! For all you know they were offered a ton of money to change jobs. Happens a zillion times a day in every sector of the world. You think becuse someone leaves one company it means they were running from a sinking ship. I am a teacher. I love my job. I love my students and my school. But if the school across the street offered me 5k more a year I would leave. Doesn't mean I leaving a bad school. Got to put food on the table and move up in the world.
@inaka_rob: If its just 1 or 2 then fine... but they've lost too many people, and there have been more tales of dischord and the game not living upto the footage shown for it to be just a case to think they were off for more money. And keep in mind they're working on one of next years biggest titles that will be seen by way more people because of the Bioshock name than most other titles... so many leaving is not a good sign.
TTDog They are having trouble making the game fun. That demo 2 years ago was the funnest part of the game. At least thats what one of the testers for the game said a few months back.
This does not bode well. I'll bet we see this game delayed again. Seems there's a lot of turmoil going on in the ranks.
what the hell is going on in Bioshock infinite's developers crew?
So Ken Levine doesn't indoctrinate his employees with "Would you kindly".
Any other title and people would be talking already about possible development problems or eminent cancelation.
Personally I think its brilliant.. Dev's, designers, artists, combat engineers and everyone in between should all be freelance, and studios made up on the fly for single games.
For example,.. Names like Cliffy B, arguably, have the massive potential to pull the best people together for the chance of a lifetime..
Thats the kind of games I want.
Acid_Kenobi that would end in a jumbled mess of bad code, incompatible styles and studios with no heart to them. Places like bungie where people stick around for decades create an atmosphere and culture all their own and style that suits the people who work there
larkin-54 How can U even say that and honestly believe it?? new studios are struck up, and lots more close, all the time. 'Places like Bungie' exist because they milk their cash cow.. No risks means no innovation and no fewer new IP's.
for Gear of War 4??
natalieyan Wonderbook Edition
"BioShock Infinite devs jump ship to Microsoft" where they will be forced to make crap Kinect Sport games / Headline Fixed.
firehawk998 your talking about it like they were sent to a concentration camp,where they are forced to work on crappy games,they chose where their next workplace will be,so microsoft isn't the one to blame.Money makes the world go round.
enartloc firehawk998 Trolls have found the REPLY option ... great.
enartloc so does proper grammar and punctuation...*You're
"...work on crappy games[.] They Choose (...)
glassesboy when you have nothing intelligent to say,just use the grammar-gestapo tactic.You do realize that english is not my native language,right?nor did i claim anywhere that i speak it very well...pathetic...DOUCHEBAG ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!!
enartloc glassesboy You actually speak it more eloquently than most who's native language is English. So high five.
Everyone is leaving the industry or moving to another place.. like rats escaping a sinking ship. The game industry is nothing but sequels after sequels. There is nothing to play out there if you don't buy into this BS gen. I am expecting next gen to be worst with even less games to play and a ton of none game stuff like TVii and Xbox music to be the main selling point. Come hear some tunes while you play your COD and pay for digital air with Xbox Live. Time to go RETRO!
HonorOfGod You do not need to be so upset.
Ortego13 I do as I please.
HonorOfGod You should do as you ought to.
HonorOfGod Ortego13 I agree wholeheartedly Honor. I was just recently playing my old NES, SNES and Sega Genesis and OH MY GOD the fun I had with those completely Disintegrates, Annihilates and Obliterates the fun of these new gen games.
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Related Game
BioShock Infinite
- Publisher(s): 2K Games
- Developer(s): Irrational Games
- Genre: Action
- Release: Feb 26, 2013 (US)
- ESRB: RP
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