BioShock Infinite devs jump ship to Microsoft

Following reports in August that two of Irrational Games' top developers--director of product development Tim Gerritsen and 13-year studio veteran and former art director Nate Wells--had left the company, it now appears that the BioShock Infinite studio may have lost another two of its team members.

According to Superannuation and Kotaku, Irrational Games combat design director Clint Bundrick and artificial intelligence lead Don Norbury had both left the studio earlier this month to join, as detailed by their individual LinkedIn accounts (here and here).

Following the departure of Gerritsen and Wells in August, Irrational announced that the original BioShock art director, Scott Sinclair, would fill Wells' role amid reports of multiplayer cancellations. Irrational later brought in Epic Games production director Rod Fergusson to help complete the game.

BioShock Infinite was announced in 2010, and was originally scheduled to be launched this month. In the run up to the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo--at which it was not present-- it was announced that the game would be delayed to February 2013.

When BioShock Infinite does ship, it will do so with great sales expectations. In August 2011, one analyst suggested that the game would be a significant financial boon for Take-Two, saying that 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.