Posted on Tuesday 7-Feb-2012 8:30 AM

BioShock Infinite: Even the team don't know the ending, admits Levine

I'm keeping it from them, director tells PSM3

By Tim Weaver for computerandvideogames.com

Ken Levine has admitted he's keeping "large chunks" of BioShock Infinite's story secret from his own team, in order to properly gauge their response to its twists and reveals.

Bioshock: Infinite Screenshot
Speaking in this month's PSM3, on sale tomorrow, Levine revealed: "I want to preserve [it] and observe [the team], so I can see their reactions. Keeping people virgins to that content is really important because you never get that reaction from someone a second time."

In a broad and revealing interview, he goes on to confess that keeping the story back from the team hasn't necessarily proved popular: "I think (it's) a frustration on the team here. I don't want them to know the game story, and they want a document from me that tells them the whole game story.

"I'm not going to do that. That's not the way we present stuff to the gamer. We don't ship a document. The story is only relevant in terms of how you present it, not the details of what it is.

"I don't want to send out a document which is the game story, because to me that's not the game story - that's an outline or a blueprint for us to build the game story from."

For more on the game, check out this BioShock Infinite preview, in which Irrational boss Ken Levine talks Games Master through his new dystopia.

Bioshock: Infinite Screenshot
The latest issue of PSM3, featuring extensive coverage of Bioshock Infinite and PS Vita, is on sale now. Subscribe to the print edition, get it for your iDevice via Apple Newsstand or grab it for your PC, Mac or Android phone. Based in the U.S.? Fear not: subscribe to the print edition here, get it on your iDevice here, or PC, Mac or Android here.

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Tim Weaver
Managing Editor

Writer, journalist and Curly Wurly connosieur, Tim Weaver is Managing Editor in Future Games, the evil empire that oversees websites like CVG and leading print titles such as Edge and Official Xbox Magazine. Read more

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Comments

13 comments so far...

  1. Report this post Reply with quote
    TheLastDodo on 7 Feb '12 said:

    Sounds like a nice way of saying "I don't trust any of em not to leak the story".

    Pardon my cynicism, I had f**k all sleep last night :|

  2. Report this post Reply with quote
    moogiesboy on 7 Feb '12 said:

    Levine's one of my favs simply for reasons like this. A talented man who genuinely cares for the product he's putting out.
    His type is sadly a limited commodity in todays gaming industry.

  3. Report this post Reply with quote
    gmcb007 on 7 Feb '12 said:

    I remember when Bioshock came out. It was a risky move to venture onto forums when the US release came around because the trolls went mental with spoilers.

  4. Report this post Reply with quote
    StonecoldMC on 7 Feb '12 said:

    This could be a genre and generation defining Game!?

    Quite simply, in Ken we trust.

  5. Report this post Reply with quote
    dicky1993 on 7 Feb '12 said:

    bioshock will kick ass, GOTY

  6. Report this post Reply with quote
    beemoh on 7 Feb '12 said:

    Putting a fiver on the ending being "...and then he woke up and it was all a dream".

  7. Report this post Reply with quote
    Fr33Kye on 7 Feb '12 said:

    You're....you're probably gonna have to tell them levine...

  8. Report this post Reply with quote
    Imaduck on 7 Feb '12 said:

    What a legend. :)

    We need more companies to focus on protecting their games from spoilers and leaks.

  9. Report this post Reply with quote
    KK-Headcharge78 on 7 Feb '12 said:

    Dodo why no sleepy?

  10. Report this post Reply with quote
    TheLastDodo on 7 Feb '12 said:

    Dodo why no sleepy?

    lol it just happens, thinks it's a combination of heat (my bedroom is like 10 degree hotter than the rest of house :? ) and the meds I'm on.

    I've cheered up now :D.

  11. Report this post Reply with quote
    silent moose on 7 Feb '12 said:

    There's no I in team Ken

  12. Report this post Reply with quote
    KK-Headcharge78 on 8 Feb '12 said:

    Dodo why no sleepy?

    lol it just happens, thinks it's a combination of heat (my bedroom is like 10 degree hotter than the rest of house :? ) and the meds I'm on.

    I've cheered up now :D.

    Oh I see you is poorly, thought you'd been trying to get a game on Homefront :mrgreen:

  13. Report this post Reply with quote
    illage2 on 9 Feb '12 said:

    Well how are the dev team supposed to make the game if they don't know the ending? I don't think we're seeing Bioshock Infinite this year.