A very unexpected thing has happened. Ken Levine from Irrational Games has said he is winding down the development studio. All but 15 of its staff will be laid off, but given time to complete their personal portfolios and find work elsewhere at their offices.

The Quincy, Massachusetts based Irrational Games was founded in 1997 by Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey and Robert Fermier. The studio developed System Shock 2, Freedom Force, SWAT 4 and Tribes Vengeance before being acquired by Take-Two Interactive. The studio was renamed 2K Boston just prior to the release of the original BioShock, and reverted to the Irrational Games name in 2010.

Around 200 people worked for Irrational Games during the development for BioShock infinite which was hit by delays.

Levine said that he is 'deeply proud' of what Irrational Games has accomplished, but that his passion "has turned to making a different kind of game than we've done before.

Ken Levine wrote:

"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. There's no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.

Besides financial support, the staff will have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios. Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we'll be hosting a recruiting day where we'll be giving 3rd party studios and publishers a chance to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff."

The next DLC for BioShock Infinite, Episode 2, is set for release on March 25th.