Ken Levine Reveals Why He Quit The BioShock Franchise

The BioShock franchise was a huge hit and gained a massive following over the years. However, after the three mainline installments for the IP, we’re left waiting on what’s next. But we already know that Ken Levine won’t be involved. If you don’t recognize the name, this is the man behind BioShock. Thanks to Tweak Town, we’re learning that Ken Levine was featured on a podcast episode of Sacred Symbols. During the conversation, it was unveiled that just one of the reasons caused Ken to part with an IP that he helped create. 

BioShock fans are still waiting on more information to trickle out to the public. We know that a BioShock 4 is in the works, but outside of that, there’s been no indication of what we can expect. Hopefully, that will change soon. But looking back on the franchise, the man who helped create BioShock is glad to have stepped away. Ken Levine revealed the amount of pressure that was placed on the IP after its success. Initially, Ken revealed that they were hopeful they could sell a million units of BioShock when they first developed the game.

But what happened was that they sold a whole lot more than that. Ken noted that is where the pressure starts to build. At first, Ken compares the development team to an underdog because everyone loves to root for the underdog. But once you have that hit, there’s a turn of the next game also doing incredibly well. He would later note that some are looking for you to stumble or have the expectation that you can sell your next installment. 

It’s because of that Ken felt trapped and decided he needed to exit from the franchise after releasing BioShock Infinite. Since he left, Ken stated that you can’t compete against yourself. It’s not a healthy way to live life. Of course, BioShock Infinite also had a strong following, but where the franchise will go from here is anyone’s guess. While Ken might not be involved with this installment, we know that Cloud Chamber is the development studio working on BioShock 4. But again, no official marketing materials have been released to hype up what’s coming next. 

At any rate, you can go back and play the previous installments with the BioShock: The Collection, which provides upgraded versions of BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite. The collection has since been released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch platforms.