Gaming community is mortified that Irrational Games is shutting down

The news that Irrational Games, creators of the BioShock -series, will be shut down has shocked the gaming world while leaving fans mortified. Many are also outraged by the decision as contributing to the industries exploitative business model.

[stanr]

The announcement that Irrational Games is closing down has mortified gamers while reigniting the criticism of the industries exploitative practices. Right now its not guaranteed that everyone at Irrational Games will gain new employment with Take-Two while some may struggle to find new employment in this troubling economy.

[flyingmunky]

The volatility of the games industry is horrible. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to finally get your dream job working in the industry only to have that rug ripped out from under you when your company goes belly up or this happens.

IT is one of the fastest growing and highest demanded fields. So when they use these folks like toilet paper and throw them away it's absolutely disgusting.

[UltraNova]

Welcome to the rest of the world where employees are nothing more than 'use and replace as needed'...

[Jackhass]

Sad to see one of the more creative forces in the industry go down, but I doubt this is the end of Ken Levine.

[Derekvinyard13]

This sucks

[stanr]

Agreed

[Omar91]

So does this mean that there will not be a bioshock vita game? didn't they announce something like this a few yrs back?

[WitWolfy]

Sigh.. Still pissed off about this!

[DarkBlood]

Maybe you need to stop going kao ken then lol

[il-JumperMT]

And this is what mobile gaming and f2p is doing to the industry.

Why bother doing high budget games if a half arsed attempt that takes 5 hours stop makes 50k $ per day. No wonder Ken Levine wants to focus on "simpler" games. They net more money for less afford.

[Information Minister]

I have no problem with Ken Levine wanting to focus on simpler games, but was it really necessary to destroy a very talented studio in order to do so? I think this was a bad decision. He should have just left the studio and started a new one, like other famous developers have done before. That way everyone would be happy - Levine, his former staff and the gamers.

[Treian]

I normally think most fanboy rage is irrational (get the pun there), but these reactions are completely rational and justified

[CrossingEden]

Ik I am, :( I love Irrational Games

[jegheist2014]

gaming community is raged cuz microsoft lost nother war so if u wat anything bioshock related u must own ps4 ha ha ha ha take that good job guerilla beofre microsoft even had chance to pay for them guerilla welcomes them with open arms omg lol

xbone new sega dreamcast of consoles to end all consoles

[KnightRobby]

I just don't understand if Ken Levine and company wanted to explore a smaller venture, why in the hell wouldn't you hire people to run Irrational Games, then hire people to run your small venture, and make everyone happy?

This is quite...irrational. I guess things add up now. I just think somehow workers need to be able to protect themselves or at least respond as a collective to prevent further abuse.

[Milruka]

Probably asking to much to do so.

Hiring young people who have a interest in a good company would mean you could keep costs lower.

[Relientk77]

Agree still pretty upset bout this :-/

[killzzo]

i only played bioshock infinite, it was really good, i wasn't able to find the first and the second one, i wish a played them, did they make any other games, and if they did tell me.

[Sadist3]

Thank GameStop. People wait to buy games used, therefore companies do not get the revenue.

[Veneno]

I don't know. If I was getting paid well for making the games I wanted to make like the Bioshock series, I would count my blessings. And for Ken Levine to put his development team out of jobs to make casual crap for a quick buck is a mistake he will soon regret. He will now have to abandon all the fans that made him successful and start over.

He's probably thinking to himself "dude, i can fart out a game like Flappy Angry Candy Birds". I'm gonna be riiiiiich!

But on the flipside, I would have to say that theres lots of mediocre dev teams that would benefit more going the casual route because their sales expectations exceed their actual talent. Meaning they are always trying to pass off their mediocre games as AAA experiences when they aren't. And then get bummed out and start blaming gamers when they don't sell a billion copies.

[lonegunner101]

I was never really a BioShock fan but if a company like Irrational can't stay open after a big hit then whats the point of developing games for a career?

[ShaunCameron]

SMH @ yet another Western studio going under.