Ben-DutkaIt's always easy to get gamers all riled up.
So when the news broke about developer Irrational Games losing a few key members, questions began to circulate. More news came out this week concerning other employee shuffling, including the fact that former Bioshock Infinite art director has joined Uncharted developer Naughty Dog. So should you be worried about the current status and future of the next Bioshock entry?
The short answer is no. This isn't a game that has remained under wraps; we've seen plenty of media footage (much of which has been lengthy), and numerous behind-the-scenes features are easy to find. This is not a project that has clearly ran into roadblocks; it's one that seems to have been firing on all cylinders since the announcement. Compare this to The Last Guardian and you'll see what I mean. Only super huge projects that aren't continually in the public eye after being revealed are concerning to me.
Secondly, with a team like the one assembled at Irrational, I think they can afford to lose a few pieces of talent. On top of which, you've got Ken Levine, who is one of the great visionaries of this industry and will never let an inferior product out the door. He has also been frank, candid and outspoken throughout most of his dealings with the press, so there's no reason to believe he's hiding a floundering project. I'm sure they have to reevaluate some things with all this personnel shifting, but I have no doubt the end result will be nothing short of phenomenal.
Also, please don't forget that in the past, before LinkedIn and Twitter and other constantly updated sources, we never knew who went where or did what. I'm fairly certain big teams have gone through similar things in the past; we just didn't know about them, and the final product probably still impressed. All things considered, I really wouldn't lose much sleep worrying about Bioshock Infinite .
Related Game(s): Bioshock Infinite
This game is going to be an amazing SP experience. I appreciate it when a developer takes their time. Course then we sometimes have developers taking their time only to screw over the fans…you know who they are.
I was never worried, and hopefully with Dishonored around the corner I won't get too antsy either.
Wasn't planning to. Sure they may have lost some key personnel, but the game is what, six months from release? The core of it has to be in place by now, meaning that they should be focussing on balancing and polishing… a task more for the regular staff than the managers even if their seasoned direction would help. At worst it'll be delayed.
Losing the art director before completion is a big problem, I just hope that the project is nearly complete as it does sound like it might be released a little unpolished. Either way I reckon it will still be an amazing experience. I have purposefully avoid all coverage on it past the first trailer. I want to be completely surprised.
one of the things i HATE about todays society!
they have become so melodramatic!
they have to blow EVERYTHING WAY out of proportion!
ok they lost a few key members, ok they scrapped the MP modes, ok the game suddenly got delayed.
so what!?
these are not exactly new things to happen in the industry!
if there is ONE team out there that you can trust wont put out a bad game its irrational!
in fact if bioshock infinite does not get GOTY awards ill hang up my gaming boots!
thats how stupid and blown out of proportion this has become!
Oh dear God.
You're complaining about people who are overly melodramatic?
Pot…meet kettle.
FFS, you have an exclamation point in all but one of your sentences.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/14/2012 2:45:05 PM
Lose sleep? Nah, but it does make me wonder what condition TLoU is in to warrant the hiring of an art director. Holy smokes man, THAT'S the REAL story here.
Why? I'm sure they're working on Uncharted 4, too, and The Last Of Us is a lot further away than Bioshock Infinite.