Prominent developers at Irrational Games are jumping from the airship of BioShock Infinite.
The first BioShock was by no means an assured success. Ken Levine – head of Irrational Games – said the shooter was not the game we now regard as a classic before the release date was pushed back to 2007. His team needed extra time for polish and refinement, and he said the same thing when 2K Games announced Irrational’s follow-up BioShock Infinite would miss its October 2012 release window. The game is still planned for February 2013, but today we learned two top members of the design team have left the studio. Tim Gerritsen, director of product development, and Nate Wells, the art director responsible for the look of the Big Daddies, are no longer employed at Irrational Games, placing the development of BioShock Infinite in danger.
We learned of Wells’ and Gerriten’s departures through some investigating into their social networks, not through any official announcement. According to Gamasutra, Wells updated his Twitter bio to read “New Job … Details to follow” earlier today, but has since revised it to be blank. Gerritsen’s LinkedIn page notes that his employment at Irrational Games ended in August 2012. Well’s LinkedIn page says that his Irrational Games tenure is in the past.
There’s been no official word on whether these departures will affect the release date for BioShock Infinite, but it certainly can’t be good news.
Source: Gamasutra
Published: Aug 8, 2012 07:59 pm