Irrational Games Shutdown Announced

The team behind BioShock and BioShock Infinite will shut down next month.
Irrational Games have today announced that they will shut down after development is complete on their current project, BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea Episode 2. The development studio have been operating for over fifteen years now, offering up such gems as 1999's System Shock 2, 2007's BioShock and of course last March's incredible Game of the Year 2013 contender BioShock Infinite, and to see them go in what should by all rights be their golden era is utterly astounding.

Here's a summary of Ken Levine (the co-creator of Irrational, now set to move over to BioShock's publishing company Take-Two)'s comments on the studio's closure: "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. [Joining Take-Two] mean[s] parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team."

Our thoughts on this startling announcement go something like this- surely there are other executives at Irrational who would be capable of taking the studio's helm rather than Ken needing to shut it down altogether? Infinite was by far the greatest first-person-shooter experience launched in 2013, if not during the entirety of the 360/PS3 generation, and we can't have been alone in awaiting news on the team's first next-generation project with avid anticipation. Although we wish Ken and his substantially reduced development team all the best in their future endeavours at Take-Two, right now, our thoughts go out to all of those members of staff who will be left without a means to provide for themselves and their families as of next month. We'll keep you posted on any developments with regards to the Irrational situation as and when they come.

The company's final video game product, BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea Episode 2, will retail on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network from March 25th. Below, we've posted trailers for both instalments of the two-part DLC expansion to provide a solemn reminder of the incredible talent that was housed within Irrational Games.