Two senior-level members of Irrational Games — the highly regarded development studio behind BioShock and the upcoming BioShock Infinite — have left the studio, according to Gamasutra.
Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and art director Nate Wells are both leaving Irrational. Gerritsen, an industry veteran who was at Prey developer Human Head before coming to Irrational, was a forward-facing member of the Irrational team and played a big role in the 2010 unveiling of BioShock Infinite.
Wells reportedly changed his Twitter bio to say “New Job … Details to follow”. The former staffer was a major part in developing the distinct looks of Rapture and the Big Daddy characters from BioShock 1. He was a 13-year veteran at Irrational and worked at Looking Glass Studios prior to that.
These moves come after the departures of other key creators at Irrational. Previously, Steve Gaynor — who designed the well-liked Minerva’s Den DLC for BioShock 2 — had left the company, followed by associate producer Chris Remo, who’s currently working on community relations at Double Fine.
Kotaku has heard that development on BioShock Infinite has hit choppy waters. We’ve reached out to 2k Games for comment and will update this story if they respond.
Update: Irrational creative director Ken Levine sent out the following tweet, signalling that Scott Sinclair, art director for BioShock 1, will be assuming those duties on BioShock Infinite: “Scott Sinclair, art director of Bio1, back in the art director’s chair for Infinite to bring it home. Can’t wait to show you what’s cooking.”
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