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Arkane Studios - best known for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Arx Fatalis - has confirmed it’s the latest outfit to get to work on BioShock 2.
The Lyon, France-based developer is assisting in level design. In a similar vein, the company recently assisted in creating multiplayer maps for Call of Duty: World at War.
“Under the direction and leadership of 2K Marin, Arkane is assisting in the creation of levels that embody the aesthetic and gameplay ideals that make BioShock such a unique and exciting experience,” said 2K Marin producer Alyssa Finley.
Four developers are now working on the sequel, namely 2K Marin, 2K Australia, Digital Extremes and Arkane Studios.
Viewing 13 responses
Blerk said:
Hmm… What is it they say about “too many cooks”?
Rock_Me_Amadeus said:
I’m a bit worried about that tbh. 4 studios? Too many cooks and all that?
Phoenixblight said:
Really 4 developers is 2k that unskiller or unmanned to do it themselves… thats a little disappointing
Blerk said:
It sounds more like they’re just desperate to get it finished as soon as possible, which never bodes well. Better to take your time and get it right than throw an infinite number of monkeys at it, surely?
Michael O'Connor said:
More developers = faster completion.
It’s a technique the movie industry has used for years, where different parts of production and development are handed out to different companies. It also helps reduce overall costs.
With games becoming more expensive and taking longer to create, this is a habit the gaming industry is going to pick up as well, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Talk about reading into stuff too much.
Blerk said:
It’s not always as simple as that with software though, Michael. Adding extra people to a project can often over-complicate the process as you’re then having to nanny off-site people with no previous experience of the product and integrate external stuff into the main code-base.
The more of that that happens, the less time the ‘core’ team has for working on the actual software. More doesn’t necessarily equal better. Once you’re past a certain tipping point it can actually slow the project down.
Michael O'Connor said:
I agree, but they’re only assisting on the level design. It’s not like they’re overseeing half the project or anything.
Blerk said:
If they’re working to previously-created designs then it probably won’t be an issue. But if they’ve got full creative control over what they’re doing, it can lead to a lack of cohesion in the experience. I hope this is something that was lead by the team and not enforced by 2K as a time-saver.
Are Marin the leads this time? They did the PS3 version last time, right? What are Australia doing?
Rock_Me_Amadeus said:
“but they’re only assisting on the level design” Shouldn’t that be finished by now?
Michael O'Connor said:
“Shouldn’t that be finished by now?”
You’d be surprised just how much keeps getting done with a game until literally the day the game goes gold and is ready to put on disc.
ultrabrilliant said:
Doesn’t say much for 2K Marin’s confidence if they have to bring an entire company in to help them.
BioShock 2 will score 80s across the board, I guarantee - which is obviously fine, but not what the series deserves.
SwiftRanger said:
Ubisoft did the “bring in more devs” thing often enough and that didn’t really save Far Cry 2 or AssCreed.
absolutezero said:
I really wanted The Crossing from Arkane.
I like them.