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Signs of Life at BioShock: Infinite Studio

Vacancy listing for senior programmer published recently, months after the studio closed.

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Irrational Games, the Boston-based creator of the BioShock series, could be planning a revival following its closure in February.

Representatives for the studio have taken the surprising step of posting a new job listing on its official website. The listing for a senior programmer is not time-stamped, but a Google Cache view reveals that it did not exist on October 21, suggesting the vacancy is new.

The studio had effectively closed down in February, laying off scores of staff while its cofounder, Ken Levine, formed a new start-up studio under ownership of its publisher Take-Two.

"I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it," Levine said at the time.

"I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition."

Irrational Games was established in 1997, and broke onto the scene with its acclaimed first-person RPG, System Shock 2.

The studio would later define its legacy with the multi-award winning 2007 FPS BioShock, followed up by BioShock: Infinite six years later.

As the developer shut down in February, Levine said he had "handed the reins of our creation, the BioShock universe, to Take-Two."

US-based representatives for the studio were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Avatar image for Peugeot_Rocket
Peugeot_Rocket

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I'd like a Bioshock in Rapture that takes place over time. Something where we can see Rapture in all it's glory and play until it decays. Something similar to what they did with Burial at Sea except having an actual passage of time.

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Dark_Rage

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It better be another Bioshock game or System Shock game.

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holocam22

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I like how no one talks about bioshock 2.

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edgewalker16

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I enjoyed Bio 2. The story isn't as memorable, but still has "wtf" moments, MP was forgettable...and some of the levels could have been more interesting, but it also has my favorite level of the entire series (Persephone).


Bioshock 1: Story and atmosphere

Bioshock 2: Gameplay and mechanics

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Peugeot_Rocket

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Which is a shame because it was actually a great game. Taking on the role of a Bid Daddy really allowed them to flesh out the story behind Rapture in an interesting way. Not only were they able to explain the whole concept behind Big Daddies and Little Sisters, but they were also able to tell a fairly emotional story in the process.


My only complaint about playing a Big Daddy was that it removed most sense of dread and fear that the original had because you just felt like a bad ass who could take on anything. The art direction and environmental design were still top notch though.


I really recommend people give this game a chance. It is not just a cheap capitalization on the Bioshock name but a truly worthy title in the series.

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Grenadehh

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More importantly though the PC community begs for an SS3. It will never happen, not while copyright law exists.

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Grenadehh

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SS2 isn't an RPG, if BioShock is an FPS. While you can follow many paths that accomodate many playstyles, SS2 is still a survival horror shooter with RPG elements, just like BS1 and 2, which ends up playing almost entirely the same regardless of hacker, psionic, soldier, or stealth.

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naryanrobinson

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Cool. BioShock 1 wasn't without its flaws, much too easy even on hard, probably on account of its other flaw: not enough enemies for all the cool ways to kill them, but it's still one of my favourite games ever, for the atmosphere mainly.

I had to spend a long while figuring out how to fix the crashes, resolution, field of view, mouse sensitivity etc. but now that I've got them all sorted, it's fantastic fun. Some of the best fun to be had on any FPS anywhere, even in 2014.

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holocam22

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Bioshock was pretty hard. BTW the only reason half the people who played it beat it was because you could re spawn as many times as you like instead of having to restart a check point.

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Peugeot_Rocket

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<< LINK REMOVED >> It wasn't that hard if you played smart. And I never used the Vita chambers. I wish Bioshock Infinite had let you turn off the re-spawn system like BS1.

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naryanrobinson

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I didn't really like the Vita chamber system. If they're going to give me a quicksave system I'd rather use that. This way it just meant that when I died, I had to wait 10 seconds to get back to the chamber before I could hit the quickload key.

Personally I don't really see how any game with a quicksave button could be hard, and I don't spam it all the time, just before something risky.

I'm playing through it again on hard and I'm absolutely drowning in supplies. I'm constantly trying to remember back to where that extra health kit or Eve hypo was but the fact is that they're just everywhere, and the same for ammo. I'm swamped in ammo despite feeling like I could go through 90% of the game with only an upgraded wrench. It kills most things in 2 hits after all.

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Peugeot_Rocket

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Totally agree.


I disabled the Vita chambers because I found them to be annoying. They just delayed me reloading my save.


I reached the $999 limit for money a few times in that game because I was finding so many supplies that I didn't need to buy anything.

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naryanrobinson

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<< LINK REMOVED >> How did you get $999? I could only get $500.

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Grenadehh

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Yea clearly you didn't play BioShock and are full of sh*t, it's okay though your ego is intact buddy. We believe you that you found the game easy on hardest difficulty, considering a BD could kill you in 2 hits on normal. Or considering there were several areas where you could be fighting 10+ splicers and big daddies simultaneously.

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edgewalker16

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> He isn't talking about difficulty in terms of enemy count or damage...he's talking about the Vita-chambers and how there was, essentially, no penalty for death. You could run in to two big daddies with guns blazing and plasmids out your eyeballs, die in 3 seconds, and do it all again until the daddies are dead.

Bioshock 1 difficulty, even on hard, was entirely dependent on each player's individual ability to resist playing like a brain-dead idiot.

Don't insult people for their legitimate opinions. It makes you look like a damn fool.

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naryanrobinson

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<< LINK REMOVED >> If you're bad at the game that's fine, but don't start crying when all the others kids aren't as s*** as you.

Thanks.

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Peugeot_Rocket

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I agree that it wasn't that hard. It was enough of a challenge that I didn't feel like I was breezing through COD or something but I did feel a little underwhelmed. I really didn't die that much on hard. But to be fair, I played on normal first so I had experience backing me up.

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fredyellowone

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Good. Wish I had all three games on my PS4.

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Peugeot_Rocket

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I was actually thinking the other day that they should do a current gen remaster of all three games. I would totally replay them all.

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NTM23

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I'd love more Bioshock. The original Bioshock is one of my favorite games ever made, and two and Infinite are some of my favorite from the year they came out (though Infinite, with the new direction it took, while still very very good, came with a disappointing surprise of less exploration, and emphasis on its setting, all for the story, so it was good and bad.)

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ztron370

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I hope there will be another Bioshock because Bioshock 1/2 infinite were awesome.

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HiroArka

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I read that as Bioshock One Half Infinite and imagined a Prequel out of random :D

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skipper847

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Bioshock 1 probably in unreal engine 4.

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NTM23

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<< LINK REMOVED >> That'd be amazing to me. I'd love if they made all three Bioshock's in Unreal engine 4.

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Too-DementeD

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They'll be nothing more than a "new studio" using Irrational's name.

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Ferg1213

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"Again young Fitzpatrick!" I love Bioshock.

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forzaroma13

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i want a nextgen bioshock game!!!

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blprater

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Bring me a Bioshock game to the current generation game systems. Not an HD remake either. I want something new and innovative

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DaVillain

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DaVillain  Moderator

System Shock 3 please.

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Talavaj

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Starting a revival ? It is not like they closed down to go home and suck on their thumbs. They probably had a script and designs for a game long before they shut the main studio down.

Heck the people who have been let go already have games well into development, those being the Black Glove and Flame in the Flood.

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everson_rm

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Bioshock in 2007 was really groundbreaking. Infinity was very good too, but not with the same "impact" of the first one...

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console_war_vet

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Bioshock 3 confirmed.

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