![Why Ken Levine moved on from BioShock: 'I [thought I'd] lose my mind, and my marriage'](https://d1lss44hh2trtw.cloudfront.net/resize?type=webp&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshacknews-www.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fassets%2Farticle%2F2016%2F09%2F15%2FLevine%2C+Ken_1200x500.jpg&width=1032&sign=AIedYlSvu48tkjuSWqTHQhEpjwH5c2l-BPb3BwbIZo8 "Why Ken Levine moved on from BioShock: 'I [thought I'd] lose my mind, and my marriage'")
Why Ken Levine moved on from BioShock: 'I [thought I'd] lose my mind, and my marriage'
Having been immersed in the franchise for several years by that point, Levine realized it was having adverse effects on his life.
Rolling Stone's Glixl publication ran a detailed interview with BioShock director Ken Levine (via GameSpot). The interview touched on a wide range of subjects, including why Levine chose to step away from producing blockbuster games in favor of smaller, more experimental projects.
Levine directed 2007's original BioShock as well as BioShock Infinite, the latest entry in the franchise released back in 2013. Having been immersed in the franchise for several years by that point, Levine realized it was having adverse effects on his life.
"I saw a picture of me when we first announced it. That was 2010. And then I saw a picture of me after I did an interview on NPR when we shipped it in 2013. And I look 10 years older," he said. "It changed my life in terms of what it did to my health, and what it did to my view of making games, and my relationships with people."
Although he didn't feel up to making another installment right away, he resolved himself to table the idea and told his bosses at Take-Two that he would be leaving to create a smaller game. "I think the natural expectation was that I would go and do the next bigger and better BioShock game. And I felt, 'I think I'll fail if I do that. I think I'll lose my mind, and my marriage.' And so my solution was to quit."
Take-Two asked him to stay, and Levine and a few ex-Irrational developers formed a smaller studio as part of Take-Two. To Levine's surprise Take-Two closed Irrational Games rather than put another team on a new BioShock game.
Even so, he's happy working in a more intimate setting. "Managing 30 or 40 people where you know everybody's name is a very different process than managing 150 people. You walk by people in the studio and you don't know who they are."
2K published BioShock: The Collection for Xbox One, PS4, and PC this week. The package includes remastered versions of BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite, as well as all single-player DLC for each game plus extras like commentary with Levine as well as lead animator Shawn Robertson.
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replyDavid Craddock posted a new article, Why Ken Levine moved on from BioShock: 'I [thought I'd] lose my mind, and my marriage'
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easier work hours as well
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He isn't writing screenplays full-time, though. And while I agree that film has a reputation for being cutthroat and impersonal, the games business is just as bad these days. I've been on both sides of the industry--writing about it, and writing scripts for games--and Hollywood models apply to games as much as they do to films.
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I've been on both sides. The film industry feels like people being forced to work together but there not "working Together" if that makes sense. They'd gladly stab people in back, or throw people under a bus to get a few inches ahead of the Film rat race. I'm sure there are some Video Game studios like this, but from what I've seen, the Majority of Studios and Devs work together to make something they want people to enjoy, Every Creative Director I've met has cared that I liked or dislike his/her game, in the Film industry Those directors don't give two shits. I remember I went to Comic Con in 2011 or 2012 and the director of "The Wolverine" was in a Q & A, I forgot the exact question the fan asked, but I'll remember forever the answer James Mangold gave " I Don't care if you like it, just go see it" The film-industry in a nutshell.
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That makes sense. I'd enjoy reading/hearing more about your experience in the film industry. I find inside baseball-type stuff fascinating. :)
As for how the games industry operates, it's like any other: the bigger the company, the more people are involved, and the more people involved, the more likely you'll have cliques and politics. -
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pfft newb ;)
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Can we just agree to disagree you obliviously had a completely reverse experience from me, that doesn't mean that your right and I'm wrong, & my experience doesn't mean I'm right or your wrong. I don't want to go into detail about my personal work experience I faced a lot of struggles and obstacles on my journey. It was a very personal thing I went through. I'm pretty much down with this conversion now."
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I've worked in both as well, as an IT guy, but heavily involved in the company and knew everyone. I would gladly go back to games any day. The movie industry is not doing well and the companies are so big its way too political. In games there is a sense of everyone working their asses off to accomplish a goal. In movie/tv industry it's so big that most people are terrible workers who don't do dick all day. That's my experience anyway. I'd love to work in games again and when I left it I hated it due to crunch time only to realize I put it more hours now. Obviously everyone has their own experiences but I do think my coworkers now would love to work at a games company.
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Would you say it was a watered-down System Shock?
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lmao
Infinite wasn't system shock anything. In the first combat sequence I had no choice but to shoot a guy in the face and the bioshock series patented strawberry jam shot out of his body.
It was an average shooter.
When Bioshock came out he explained all the simplification as a compromise to the mass market. It was supposed to introduce COD people to immersive sim, with full fledged ones to come in the future. Turned out the old adage proved correct yet again. Key SS2 vets leaving the company a month prior to release said it all.-
I meant Bioshock but I agree with you. I really liked the way they streamlined it, though. I played it quite late and was as immersed as in SS2.
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It was an implausible and unsustainable world. The gameplay wasn't bad. It was watered down, as you said, cus it's basically: "Hey I can kill enemies 3 ways: shoot them, get them to kill each other, or get turret to shoot them! What a revelation!"
What's missing is true reactivity. How about knockout? How about sneak pass? Immersive sim tend to react to player activity with more options, surprises, tidbits of incidental story, etc.
The ironic thing is BS2 actually had much better levels. And what did 2K Marin get for their effort? Thumb down, low score.-
I just couldn't get into BS2, I was really turned off by the first set pieces. It felt like a completely different game and more action focussed. I liked what I've played of Minerva's Den but haven't finished it. Maybe now is a good time to try again.
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I get what hes saying, that dude really throws himself deep into what he and his team is making. Being everywhere and everythung at once is a ton of stress, not to mention the huge burden of the giant budgets these games have now hanging over your head
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