Irrational Games is gone—say hello to Ghost Story

It was a big deal when Ken Levine announced in 2014 that the storied Irrational Games studio was "winding down." Its impact and influence over the years was so great that we actually wrote it a "fond farewell," recalling our time with brilliant experiences like System Shock 2, SWAT 4, and of course the BioShock games. It didn't go away completely—15 employees remained in what Levine described at the time as a "more entrepreneurial" outfit—but it obviously wasn't going to be making the big-budget blockbusters we'd grown used to. 

Perhaps to reflect that fact, the studio made a pretty big announcement on Twitter today: Irrational is gone, and in its place stands Ghost Story Games. 

"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," the studio's new site says. "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."

Levine remains at the head of the studio as president and creative director, and its roster has grown somewhat: The "Meet the Team" page lists 25 members, and there are currently openings for two more positions

Unfortunately, there's still no sign of what the studio is getting up to: Levine said at the end of 2015 that it will be "sort of a small-scale open-world game," but the following April he revealed that he's also working on an "interactive Twilight Zone film." Whatever the new game turns out to be, a change like this (probably) means we'll be hearing more about it soon.