2K Boston Loses Bioshock Franchise

New York-based Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TTWO]]), in an analyst call following the release of its first-quarter results Monday, said that Bioshock 2, the sequel to its blockbuster 2007 video game Bioshock, will not be developed at Take-Two’s Boston outpost, 2K Boston, as the original was. That job will instead go to newly-created 2K Marin in Marin County, north of San Francisco, video game industry site Gamasutra is reporting. But 2K Boston manager Ken Levine may still be involved in the franchise, according to Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. While 2K Boston is busy working on a new title, Feder said, that is “not to say that Ken is not involved” in Bioshock 2, which is expected to be published at the end of 2009. The Boston Globe‘s Hiawatha Bray apparently reached Levine, but writes that he had no comment on the announcement. Take-Two, meanwhile, is trying to fend off a takeover bid by Redwood City, CA-based video gaming giant Electronic Arts.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/