Irrational Games – the celebrated Massachusetts development team responsible for such highly-rated titles as System Shock, BioShock and BioShock Infinite are currently hiring new staff, following the lay-offs of around 70 employees earlier this year. Company founder Ken Levine announced the closure of the studio in February with plans to reform a smaller team. He had this to say:
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.
While there is a position available for an IT manager, a vacancy for an Irrational Games senior programmer leads many to suspect that a new project is indeed in the pipeline. Will it be a return to the BioShock universe? Not according to Levine, who says he is handing the franchise over to 2K Games (who were responsible for publishing Infinite in 2013) with a view to making something unique with his new team which will hopefully be, “half as memorable as BioShock.”
The programmer position requires candidates to have 3+ years of experience, particularly when it comes to the Unreal 3 and Unreal 4 engine. The advertised role is a position that will:
[W]ork directly with the Lead Programmer, along with the Animation, Art and Design teams to create fun and interesting AI opponents and gameplay elements for our next title.
Anyone who is interested in any of the listed positions currently available is encouraged to apply for either one via Irrational Game’s official site.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Ken Levine’s newest venture will spring forth fresh and exciting new content? Let us know in the comments.