2k-boston posts

Ken Levine is still not talking about what his team at 2K Boston is working on next. Let's get that out of the way right now. However he is more than willing to chat to Gamasutra about pretty much anything else in a lengthy interview (with interjections from 2 Boston's director of creative development Joe McDonagh and the studio's recruiter Ryan Oddey).

The interview talks about how 2K Boston hires the right people and creates the right culture to develop their games. However Levine does give a small hint about what their next project is trying to achieve. He states, "We needed a certain kind of length for the title, because we had a scope and ambition in mind which is more ambitious than anything we've ever done. Even more, substantially more ambitious than BioShock." Wow. That sounds promising.

The BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle will cost $29.99 for the PC version and will ship to stores on July 7. There's no indication that the bundle will include any extra content beyond what was available in the game' first releases. Again if you haven't got these games already this rather unique bundle is a must have.

[Via email press release]

2007's BioShock remains perhaps one of the best games made in the current decade. Developer 2K Boston and its head man Ken Levine not only made an entertaining first person shooter with a few RPG elements but managed to deal with deep themes about choice and freedom in society. And of course the game's art style, depicting art deco looks within an underwater city, hasn't been seen before or since.

That is, of course, until BioShock 2 comes around. The sequel is being developed by 2K Marin (2K Australia, who created the PC port of the original game, is doing the same for BioShock 2) but with no input at all from 2K Boston. During E3 2009 we got to see some new footage (not shown to the public) from the game as well as a live demo of the game's all new multiplayer component.

One of the most anticipated game-to-movie translations has hit a snag. Variety is reporting that the upcoming film adaptation of 2K Boston's FPS BioShock has been put on hold at Universal Pictures. The reason is a familar one: cost.

Variety reports through unnamed sources that while the film was deep in pre-production it would have cost $160 million to film the movie in Los Angeles as previously planned. Now Universal and the movie's planned director Gore Verbinski are looking to make the movie outside the US in order to lower its planned budget. The story claims that both the movie studio and Verbinski are determined to have the BioShock movie avoid what happened to the Halo film adaptation which was permanently shut down due to budget issues.

Spike TV's GameTrailersTV show showed the first ever gameplay footage of BioShock 2 (that's without any subtitle by the way) early this morning and today the GameTrailers web site has posted up the footage for all to see. As you can see for yourself the sequel from developer 2K Marin keeps the incredible art style that 2K Boston originated in the first BioShock title.

You can also see quite a lot of action including what looks like some new fire based weapon. And how about that little narration at the end? We think the footage is certainly in keeping with the original but perhaps you may feel differently. In any case we will likely get more chances to see the game up close and personal (E3 anyone?) before its fall 2009 release date.

Publisher Take Two Interactive made a big deal out of the fact that movie director Gore Verbinski had signed on to direct a movie version of their hit action game BioShock over a year ago. Now Verbinski is reported to be fast tracking the BioShock film as his next project over a "sure thing" sequel.

Variety reports that Verbinski has turned down an offer to direct a fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series for Disney. He directed the first three movies which together have grossing a whopping $2.6 billion worldwide. The article says Verbinski is likely to direct the BioShock film next for Universal Pictures. The movie already has a script from John Logan but there's no word on when production might begin. Meanwhile the game sequel BioShock 2 is due for release this fall.

It's one of those stories where perhaps the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.In this case both hands belong to 2K Games. A few days ago a site called Primotech quoted 2K Games Community Manager Elizabeth Tobey as saying the "Sea of Dreams" subtitle for BioShock 2, the upcoming sequel to the 2007 released action game, was being done away with.

Now Eurogamer is saying, "Hold the phone, that's not what we heard." They report that the "Sea of Dreams" subtitle is still in place, although they don't have a direct quote and only have an unnamed 2K Games spokesperson as their source. So in other words . . . oh, forget it. Does anyone really care? We are still going to call the game BioShock 2.

The BioShock team at 2K Boston has been pretty silent about their upcoming plans and in a new Gamespot chat, its head man Ken Levine doesn't really give too many new details about what they have planned next. He does say that the game " . . . will probably come as a huge surprise to our audience and yet at the same time will make total sense once they see it."

He adds that the project " . . . will include a type of gameplay that is completely new to us--something the BioShock team has never really explored in depth before." But don't expect details about the game for a while. When asked if it's a new X-Com title (something that has been rumored for some time) Levine says, " I will say that I'm probably the world's biggest X-Com [fan]. I won't say I'm working on an X-Com game."

He also repeats that he and his 2K Boston team have nothing to do with the upcoming BioShock 2 title which is being developed at 2K Marin. Levine states, "Frankly, I'm trying to keep myself at a distance from it so I, like all the other fans out there, can play it fresh when it's done." 2K Boston is actively recruiting and our sister site Joystiq has the word on the developer's hiring drive.

Without a doubt one of the reasons why 2K Boston's action game BioShock was so memorable was its art style. The art-deco look was taken to the extreme to depict the enviroments and even some of the characters in the underwater city of Rapture. Now publisher 2K Games is planning to release a revamped version of their BioShock art book that shows off more of that award winning design.

Breaking the Mold: Developer's Edition will be released later this year as a 174-page softcover book for $24.99. The book is filled with new art and art concepts from the 2007 released game along with stories and commentary from team members. It's just the thing to get you through to the release of BioShock 2 later this year.

Speculation about what Ken Levine and his group at 2K Boston are doing to follow up on their 2007 smash hit BioShock continues. While another group, 2K Marin, are doing the official BioShock sequel, we still don't have a clear idea on what 2K Boston is doing next (although rumors of an X-Com revival are still popping up).

In a new job entry on Gamasutra, 2K Boston announces it is hiring for a lead multiplayer designer to work on an upcoming first person shooter project. The job description states, "Understanding of online persistence is preferred but not required. MMO design or production experience also preferred." Since BioShock did not have a multiplayer component we are going to assume that 2K Boston's new title will have a faster pace than much slower BioShock. Hopefully we will learn more about this new game sooner rather than later.

[Via Kotaku]