Ken Levine (game developer)
Ken Levine | |
---|---|
Known for | BioShock BioShock Infinite Freedom Force System Shock 2 Thief: The Dark Project |
Kenneth M. Levine (born September 1, 1966) is an American video game developer. He is the creative director and co-founder of Ghost Story Games (formerly known as Irrational Games). He led the creation of the BioShock series and is also known for his work on Thief: The Dark Project and System Shock 2.[1][2][3][4]
Levine was named one of the "Storytellers of the Decade" by
Career
Early life
Levine was born in
Looking Glass
In 1995, Levine was hired as a game designer by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Looking Glass Studios after replying to a job ad in Next Generation magazine.[10] At Looking Glass, he worked with pioneering designer Doug Church[12] to establish the initial fiction and design of Thief: The Dark Project.[13]
Irrational Games
In 1997, following his work on Thief, Levine left Looking Glass along with two coworkers, Jonathan Chey and Robert Fermier, to found Irrational Games.[14] The studio's first game was System Shock 2, an early hybrid of a role-playing game and first-person shooter. It is the sequel to Looking Glass' System Shock (1994). Levine served as lead writer and designer,[15] and the game shipped in 1999 to critical acclaim.[16]
Irrational Games developed Freedom Force and its sequel Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich, real-time tactical role-playing games that drew heavily on the love Levine and Irrational Games's artist Robb Waters had for the Silver Age of Comic Books. After the first Freedom Force game, Irrational developed the first-person shooters Tribes: Vengeance and SWAT 4, on which Levine served as writer and executive producer respectively.
Although Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and Third Reich all shipped within a year of one another in 2004 and 2005, Irrational Games had been working in preproduction on the first-person shooter BioShock, the studio's most ambitious game at that point, since 2002.[17] The game went through numerous revisions to its premise and gameplay, and was released in August 2007.[18] In 2005, Levine, Chey, and Fermier sold Irrational Games to publisher Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two Interactive changed their name to 2K, just as BioShock was released. BioShock was a critical and commercial success, and is considered one of the best video games of all time.[19] The BioShock franchise has sold over 25 million units to date.[20]
In 2008, Levine delivered the keynote address at the
Since the release of BioShock, Levine served as creative director and lead writer on
In February 2014, Levine announced that Irrational Games would be closing down, with fifteen members of the staff to follow Levine to focus on digital only, narrative-driven games for Take-Two.[23] He stated in a 2016 interview that the stress of managing Infinite's development had affected his health and personal relationships, and rather than stay on to lead an even larger BioShock game, opted to depart from it.[24]
Ghost Story Games
On February 23, 2017, Irrational Games was rebranded as
Work as an author and screenwriter
Levine has been a consultant and co-author of three books related to the BioShock franchise. These are
In June 2013, Levine had been confirmed to be writing the script for a new film version of the dystopian science fiction novel Logan's Run.[30] However, he was later dropped from the project.[31]
In April 2016, Levine stated he was working with
Notable works
Levine is most notable for his conceptualization and work on the BioShock franchise. He and his team worked on BioShock and BioShock Infinite, passing on the opportunity to make BioShock 2.
BioShock is set in 1960, where the player controls a man named
BioShock Infinite is set in 1912, where main protagonist
Style and themes
Levine is known for creating narrative-driven games that explore sociological and philosophical themes. He selects dynamic art styles for use in his games, such as art deco,
Levine has explored concepts ranging from racial commentary to metaphysics with his games and emphasizes the storytelling aspect of gaming. He has cited Mad Men, the Coen brothers, and Stanley Kubrick as some of his influences.[37]
Personal life
While Levine considers himself
List of works
Name | Year | Credited with | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
Looking Glass Studios | |||
Thief: The Dark Project | 1998 | Initial design and story concepts | Eidos Interactive |
Irrational Games | |||
System Shock 2 | 1999 | Lead design, writing dialogue, story, voiceovers | Electronic Arts |
Freedom Force | 2002 | Freedom Force team, voices | Electronic Arts, Crave Entertainment |
Tribes: Vengeance | 2004 | Writer | Vivendi Games |
Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich | 2005 | Writer | Electronic Arts, 2K Games
|
SWAT 4 | 2005 | Executive producer | Vivendi Games, Sierra Entertainment |
BioShock | 2007 | Story, writing, creative direction | 2K Games, Feral Interactive |
BioShock Infinite | 2013 | Lead writer, creative director | 2K Games, Aspyr |
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea | 2013/2014 | Lead writer, creative director | 2K Games, Aspyr |
Ghost Story Games | |||
Judas[41] | TBA | TBA | TBA |
References
- ^ Fahey, Mike. "X-Play Awards BioShock Game Of The Year", "Kotaku," December 18, 2007. Accessed April 6, 2011.
- ^ Jenkins, David. "BioShock Wins SpikeTV Game of the Year", "Gamasutra," December 10, 2007. Referenced April 6, 2011.
- ^ GameSpot UK Staff. "BioShock, Wii Sports top BAFTAs", "GameSpot UK," October 23, 2007. Referenced April 6, 2011.
- ^ Davey, Jamie. "Take-Two: Grand Theft Auto franchise sells over 100 million units, GTAIV accounts for 20m" Archived March 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, March 10, 2011. Referenced April 6, 2011.
- ^ Game Informer Staff, "Best Storytellers of the Decade." Game Informer, #212, December 2010, p. 70.
- ^ 1UP Staff. "2007 1UP Network Editors' Choice Awards", "1UP," January 30, 2008. Referenced April 6, 2011.
- ^ "IGN - 37. Ken Levine". IGN. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ Mello-Klein, Cody (July 10, 2018). "BioShock's Jewish Roots Run Deep". Kotaku.
- ^ Scharr, Jillian. "Levine '88 discusses career as game developer". The Miscellany News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ a b c Levine, Ken. "PAX 2008 Keynote" Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, August 30, 2008. Referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ GameSpot. "Hot Seat: Ken Levine Interview". YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ G4 TV. "Feedback LIVE! At PAX East 2011 With Ken Levine" Archived October 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, March 12, 2011. Referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ Omni. "Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich Q&A with Ken Levine" Archived September 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, "The Armchair Empire," March 10, 2005. Referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ Irrational Games. "Studio" Archived April 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ MobyGames. "System Shock (1999) Windows credits", "MobyGames," referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ Metacritic. "System Shock 2 for PC Reviews", referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ Irrational Games. "From the Vault – The BioShock Pitch" Archived August 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ Fear, Ed (June 23, 2008). "Bioshock". MCV. develop. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ Metacritic. "Highest and Lowest Scoring Games at Metacritic", referenced April 4, 2011.
- ^ "BioShock franchise sees lifetime sales of 25M copies – with 11M from Infinite alone", VentureBeat, June 1, 2015
- ^ "Bioshock Infinite wins 75 E3 editorial honors". Irrational Games. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "The Game". Irrational Games. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "A Message From Ken Levine". Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
- ^ Suellentrop, Chris (September 14, 2016). "Inside the Making of 'BioShock' Series With Creator Ken Levine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
- ^ Pereira, Chris (February 23, 2017). "Former BioShock Studio Irrational Games Adopts A New Name". GameSpot. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ Crecente, Brian (October 9, 2013). "Ken Levine on his secret post-BioShock 'thought experiment'". Polygon. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
- ^ Wigham, Chris (July 26, 2011). "Bioshock: Rapture – interview with the author, John Shirley". Console Obsession. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ Fielder, Joe. "Bioshock: Mind in Revolt". Amazon Digital Services Incorporated. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "The Art of Bioshock Infinite". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ Futter, Mike. "Bioshock's Ken Levine Tapped To Write Logan's Run Remake For Warner Bros". Game Informer. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ "Simon Kinberg Takes over from Ken Levine on Logan's Run Script".
- ^ Kohler, Chris (April 18, 2016). "BIOSHOCK DIRECTOR KEN LEVINE'S NEXT STOP: A TWILIGHT ZONE GAME-FILM HYBRID". Wired. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- The Wrap. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Sirani, Jordan (March 30, 2017). "Ken Levine's Interactive Twilight Zone Movie Might Not Happen". IGN. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
- ^ "Bioshock (2007) (VG)". IMDB. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
- ^ "Bioshock Infinite". 2K Gmes. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
- ^ Cook, Dave (May 13, 2013). "Ken Levine writing new game, cites Mad Men, Coen Brothers as influence". VG24/7. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
- ^ Mello-Klein, Cody (July 10, 2018). "BioShock's Jewish Roots Run Deep". Kotaku. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ VanOrd, Kevin. ""We Can Kill The Industry With Cynicism" – Ken Levine". Gamespot. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ "Is controversy the main selling point of BioShock: Infinite?". March 22, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ "BioShock creator Ken Levine's latest game is Judas". VGC. December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.