Change is essential for forward progress. What better way to usher in that change than with a rebranding. Enter Ghost Story Games. In 2014, to the dismay of fans and staff alike, Irrational Games, the studio responsible for titles such as BioShock, BioShock Infinite, SWAT 4 and System Shock 2 announced it would be “winding down”. Consequently, Co-founder Ken Levine would leave us with a glimmer of hope, a new studio and new project were on the horizon.
“While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience. I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. 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.”
Fast forward three years and welcome Ghost Story Games. Ghost Story released a short but sweet introduction on their new website,
“Ghost Story was founded by twelve former Irrational Games developers and our mission is simple: to create immersive, story-driven games for people who love games that ask something of them. While we believe our new games will have strong appeal to fans of BioShock, our new focus allows us to craft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories.
We are not yet ready to share any more on our new game, but we invite you to join us and take part in our community”
Ghost Story did not take its renaming lightly, it’s meant to be a reminder of the studios mission, to be “immersive, exciting, and steeped in community”. Quite fittingly it also conveys a sense of mystery, as details regarding the studios maiden game have not yet been released. However, in a 2015 interview with Game Informer, Levine dropped a few hints. The new title would be a science-fiction themed, first-person RPG, exploring the boundaries between artificial intelligence and its programming. Levine stressed this examination of “what it means to be programmed, that you are a thing that was created by programming. That’s a big theme in the new game. And how much agency you have outside of what you are as a piece of programming instructions.” Ghost Story currently boasts a team of 25 industrious members, with two positions still available.