Summary
BioShockis arguably one of the best games of all time, and the impact since its initial release in 2007 has long been felt across the medium. It was a massive success at launch and immediately spawned two sequels.A fourth game is currently in the works, as well asa live-action movie.
That said, BioShock almost didn’t happen.In fact, director Ken Levine revealed that concerns about budget and commercial and critical success nearly led to the cancelation of the project. However, Levine and his team at Irrational Games powered through, utilizing a unique strategy to help get BioShock greenlit.
Levine Relied On Journalists To Help Get BioShock Made
In an interview with Edge Magazine, (hat tip to GamesRadar for the transcription) Levine revealed that Irrational Games' initial staff wanted to create something similar to System Shock 2. Levine, of course, was a major figure for System Shock 2, having helped design and write the title. With that experience under his belt, Levine shut down anything like System Shock 2 because of money. “We can’t make those games because they don’t sell,” he said.
But Levine was eventually worn down by the staff and a “cheap prototype” was created to pitch to publishers. And just as Levine had predicted, it was promptly dismissed over concerns of financial gain. Ever the persistent bunch, Irrational Games instead shifted their strategy. Instead of pitching the game to publishers, they would pitch it to journalists.
Under the guise of a System Shock 2 retrospective, journalists were treated to information about BioShock.Indeed, an archived article from GameSpot outlines a retrospective of System Shock 2 and how it came to be. The article itself ends with a tease of what was to come from Irrational, “But why even look back at System Shock 2 at this point? Because Irrational has been, and it plans to make a related announcement this Friday. The studio has decided that it wishes to further what it started in System Shock 2–to work on games that promote “emergent” gameplay–open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players.”
It was that decision that helped push BioShock from concept to reality, according to Levine. “The next day, people saw the article, and we started getting phone calls,” he said. “I think it created a sense of demand in the publisher.” BioShock was then revealed, and while its initial details at the time differed from what made it to the final product, the bones of it all were in place.GameSpot’s reveal detailed Plasmids, as well as horror-themed elements.
The rest, as they often say, is history. BioShock was eventually released and to date has sold a lifetime of 41 million-plus units. Success is genuinely an understatement when it comes to BioShock. Yet without Levine’s big gamble, it almost never happened. Imagine that, a world without BioShock.
