Today, AAA gaming received a serious blow. A surprise announcement from Irrational’s website broke the news that Ken Levine is closing Irrational’s doors.

Ken Levine, the creator of blockbuster hits System Shock, BioShock, and BioShock: Infinite, posted the letter to Irrational’s site announcing the end of his seventeen year tenure with Irrational.  Explaining that his “mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters”, he felt his time has come to move onto new projects. While considering moving on to a KickStarter campaign, Levine has decided to ” [start] a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two” instead.

Unfortunately, all but 15 developers are going to be stuck in the crossfire. While Levine is claiming he will be supporting current employees financially for some time, nearly all the current staff at Irrational Games will be laid off.

Source: Irrational Games’s Website

My Opinion

It is truly sad to see such a large industry giant fade before our eyes. While Levine has been a controversial figure, nobody was expecting this kind of announcement. Irrational Games has been a gem of the last generation, and I am both pained and excited to see what will be coming next. On a (minor) bright side, this is at least one my predictions coming true.

Best of luck to all those affected by these lay offs–you are all hugely talented and will hopefully find a new home, in 2K or elsewhere.

Lou Contaldi is MONG’s Nintendo Specialist and associate editor.  You can follow his incoherent ramblings at Twitter.