i wonder when they r gonna let us see sth new again, like a new trailer. the last visual example is from beginning of this year, and now it's september...
Two top BioShock Infinite devs leave
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
[UPDATE] Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and art director Nate Wells no longer employed at Irrational Games; original BioShock art director Scott Sinclair taking over for Wells.
The BioShock Infinite team at Irrational Games has lost two top developers. Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and 13-year studio veteran and former art director Nate Wells have left the company, according to updated LinkedIn profile pages reported on by Gamasutra.
According to Gerritsen's LinkedIn page, he left the Boston area studio this month. Gerritsen was part of the senior management team at Irrational, overseeing the product development division of the company. As for Wells, his LinkedIn page also confirms his departure from the studio this month. He also reportedly updated his Twitter profile to say "New Job…Details to follow," although it no longer includes that note.
[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Irrational creative director Ken Levine revealed over Twitter that original BioShock art director Scott Sinclair will fill Wells' role.
"Scott Sinclair, art director of [the original BioShock], back in the art director's chair for Infinite to bring it home. Can't wait to show you what's cooking," Levine wrote.
BioShock Infinite was announced in 2010 and was originally scheduled to launch this coming October. The game was delayed in the run up to the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo--at which it was not present--to February 2013. Explaining why BioShock Infinite would skip E3, as well as this month's Gamescom, Levine said preparing for the shows would come at the cost of development time.
"That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box," he explained at the time. "Preparing for these events takes time away from development."
When BioShock Infinite does ship, it will do so with great sales expectations. In August 2011, one analyst suggested the game would be a significant financial boon for Take-Two, saying it could ship 4.9 million copies.
BioShock: Infinite is set in a chaos-plagued airborne metropolis called Columbia. Gamers assume the role of Booker DeWitt, a former member of the feared Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was the nation's largest security company in the late 19th century.
For more on BioShock Infinite, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
108 comments
I'll wait til release to pass real comment, but all the hoo-haa I've heard about cannot be good overall for what's happening with it. Lets just hope it turns out as awesome as it looks.
losing developing staff is bad, but I'm still hopeful for Bioshock Infinite and I'm sure it will be a classic just like Bioshock 1.
5 Like OMG a game is having staff leave and is getting delayed...this means it must be terrible lets all complain about it and how its now the worst game ever....cmon internets....NERD RAGE
2 Like @Bigbudd0045 I'll drink to that fantastic display of sarcasm. (That few will still think is legit whining.) -_-
4 Like Gerritsen was handed his hat 'cause this game has taken too long to finish, and then his buddy Wells decided to take another job offer. Now Ken brings in his man (Sinclair) to finish the game the way he wants it...and it will be a better game for it.
this game better be the best game of all time after all of the delays and people bailing on it.
9 Like @mrzero1982pt2 What you mean the one delay and the two people leaving? Games get delayed, stop acting so entitled.
Since after this news im no longer getting this game full price why? Because they is something wrong with the game soz getting this pre ownd.
1 Like @pszone .....or you could wait for reviews, if Irrational hadnt announced a release date until three months out then no one would know otherwise, Rockstar does that so no one can complain about delays.
1 Like This won't affect the game's quality or anything else you guys may be worrying about. I don't care for myself because I won't be playing this, but for those of you who are very hopeful I myself hope it will be a great game for you. It also seems this game relies heavily on the art direction, but I have a strong feeling a good dev like Irrational won't let you down in that department or any others.
I don't really care for the overall feel and environment of the games. I know this setting is far different from the other 2, but it still doesn't appeal to me that much. I also don't like first person view(except for Borderlands and maybe very few others). The only way I will consider playing it is if I see it for my own eyes and it will have to grab me.
@tightwad34 @Ferg1213 Well it's on the exact same engine as borderlands, so the basic "feel" of the gameplay/movement should be almost exactly the same.
14 Like In what way is having the original art director from Bioshock a bad thing? Five years isn't too long a period of time for people to already be forgetting that B1 was amazing?
Additionally, you don't get voted #3 best game of all time (VH1) by having a terrible staff.
@edgewalker16 VH1 isnt exactly a pinnacle of the gaming community. I love Bioshock, but 3rd best game of all time? Sorry no dice. I dont think it would make my top 10, but then its hard to evaluate how a first person shooter/adventure rates against an 8bit 2d platformer, except i still see the simple brilliance in SMB or Megaman 2, and the games are over 20 years old.
1 Like @Bigbudd0045 My mistake, it was G4 and not VH1. It may or may not make any tangible difference, but I at least need to get the facts right as they are presented.
@Bigbudd0045 Your GF plays RDR? Put a ring on that finger. IMO a good game is a good game but it is pretty hard to compare older and newer games especially if it's a different genre.I started gaming again 3 years ago after a 15-20 year absense and Bioshock was the first game I played.I absolutely loved it and thought it was the best game ever but if I had played games all along I may have a different opinion.But I had no problem picking up Fallout 1 & 2 and Baldurs Gate.I just wish I played them first when they came out because I think I would have appreciated them more.I tend to ramble on but in 10 or 20 years gamers may be looking at the great games of now thinking they are outdated like you said.
3 Like @williebazerka I try. I think gaming has already hit a point where it is very hard to compare games from twenty years ago. Graphics and sound are such an important part of the medium that I dont know how well a lot the 8-bit and 16-bit classics hold up. Ive been trying to get into Super Mario Rpg on the SNES, but I never actually played it back in the day and thus have no nostalgia for it so Im finding it hard to deal with. I assume gamers who grew up on ps2 and maybe the n64/psx as kids have a hard time playing NES games. Due to life getting busier Ive only been able to play through a few games more than once since the N64 era: RE4, RE5 (not nearly as good but I was trophy hunting once I got a PS3), UC, UC2 (trophy hunting again), I think that's it. I loved Bioshock, but dont know how compelled to play through it again I feel. Honorable mention goes to Red Dead Redemption, played it, then watched my GF play the whole game. How do you compare Bioshock to say Crystallis on the NES (im avoiding the standard classic "classics" like SMB, SMB3, Metroid, and Zelda). For its time Crystallis was amazing, but 20 years later without the nostalgia and personal attachments most gamers have, how does it hold up? Likewise, how will future gamers feel about Bioshock....just some musings. I didnt play through Bioshock till fall 2011 and id put it in my top 5 of this gen (in no particular order Uncharted 2, Red Dead, Bioshock, Arkham Asylum, and Mass Effect).
I have a feeling this game is not going to be the same game we were promised before, i wouldn't doubt a major delay and some big changes
@OurSin-360 It's so late in development that nothing will change.. and if there is any changes, Scott Sinclair will be there, which only means good news.
2 Like The original art director for Bioshock 1 was amazing, I'm glad he's back on. It won't have much of an effect this late in the development either way but he's a good man to take the spot. Wonder why the others left though...
leaving means one thing .... they have finish their job and bioshock infinite are ready to be ship anytime
@hippiesanta More like they had creative differences and aren't agreeing with the direction the game is taking.
I think it will be interesting, I just hope for once they can make a good ending; that was a major flaw of the first two with only the non cannon splicer king ending having an intriguing premise.
And I also hope there are other enemies because they seem to have spoiled the majority of them already, not that they dont kick but.
i just hope it gets released.i passed on the first one when i heard it was going to be on the same disk as Infinite.if it gets delayed again then i'll just go and buy the first one.
Hm. I'll stick by my original position- that most of the hype about how revolutionary Infinite is is vapourware until I see it running. I may, of course, be pleasantly surprised.
1 Like This late in development a change in the art director isn't going to have a significant effect. Usually most of that work is finished six months prior to release for a AAA title. More likely to affect DLC, which would likely be in planning phase at this point.
This comment has been deleted
1 Like @chilly-chill i couldn't even get the game to run good and it looked like it was stuck on low settings on top of that, just gave up lol
@Kickable 'The hell is wrong with you poeple?! You just jumped on him for no good reason other than to be condescending pricks
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