All Articles: BioShock Vita

Ken Levine announced BioShock Vita to great fanfare at E3 2011 and then… nothing. The game was indefinitely delayed back in 2012, and the massive downsizing of Irrational Games put the final nail in the game’s coffin earlier this year. Yesterday, the acclaimed developer took to Twitter to lament the passing of BioShock Vita, which would have taken the form of a turn-based tactical game in the mold of Final Fantasy Tactics:

on the Vita game: 2k and sony couldn't put a deal together when I last checked. They seemed way more optimistic about this back in 2011.

— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

RT @chaddukes: @IGLevine what you had in mind for that game? –I was thinking a Final Fantasy Tactics style thing set in pre-fall Rapture.

— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

something that would work well on the vita and not be a compromise in any way. also, as some know, i'm a turn based whore.

— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

Wish I could do it myself, but lawyers and all that. I still love my vita.

— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

While a BioShock game may eventually come to the Vita, but Ken Levine definitely won’t be at the helm. Learning about games that will never be is always tough, but BioShock Vita sounds like it could have been very interesting and not the portable port of BioShock Infinite that many were expecting.

During last year’s E3 Expo, Ken Levine famously stepped on the Sony stage and announced that a new BioShock game was in development exclusively for the Vita. Since then, we’ve heard absolutely nothing about it. How come? Apparently, it’s because BioShock Vita is on the back burner until Irrational finishes up BioShock Infinite:

Wired: Are you really focusing on BioShock Infinite before you get to work on the Vita game? Or are you working on both simultaneously?

Levine: These games really are all-consuming endeavors. You do want to keep the ball rolling but it is tough to give it your full attention before you finish what you have. But we’re getting there with Infinite.

This news came from a Wired interview where Levine gets into some of the real nitty gritty design choices his team made in BioShock Infinite. While this is bad news for Vita owners hoping to get an exclusive look into Irrational’s world sometime soon, it’s an amazingly entertaining read.