Arkane contributing to BioShock 2

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 July, 2009

Four studios now working on it.

2K has revealed that Arx Fatalis developer Arkane Studios is contributing to BioShock 2.

The sequel already consists of work from 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes.

"BioShock 2 is a world class project led out of 2K Marin that features involvement from a variety of premiere studios from around the world," producer Alyssa Finley said in a statement posted on Arkane's website (thanks IGN).

"In the past we've been working closely with 2K Australia for our tech needs and Digital Extremes for our robust multiplayer experience.

"Today I'm proud to say that we've added another important developer to the mix. Under the direction and leadership of 2K Marin, Arkane is assisting in the creation of levels that embody the aesthetic and gameplay ideals that make BioShock such a unique and exciting experience."

2K said recently that BioShock 2 had been awarded a tentative release date of 30th October for Europe on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The game plunges you back into Rapture in the role of a prototype Big Daddy.

We think it's shaping up rather nicely, as you'll discover if you investigate our BioShock 2 single-player preview and our more recent multiplayer preview.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (15) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Gnort #1 3 years ago

    Is this not starting to sound like too many cooks?

  • stonedben #2 3 years ago

    Seems a bit like a clusterfuck to me

  • makeamazing #3 3 years ago

    Sounds very dodgy that they have another studio added to make levels at this late a stage. Or is it for DLC content..... doesnt sound good regardless.

  • metalangel #4 3 years ago

    All this time and effort on a game which looks like total shit. What a waste.

  • dominalien #5 3 years ago

    Considering my PS3 copy of Bioshock lists at least 5 different studios in the unskippable opening credits (almost all 2K, but also Digital Extremes if memory serves) it seems like standard fare for them.

    Even with all these people, it was still technically inferior to the X360 version :-( But still a good game :-) Not 10/10, though.

    Not yet decided whether to get the challenge rooms or not. The 80-something % of trophies count is getting on my nerves, though ;-)

  • DFawkes #6 3 years ago

    I can the the logic of up to 2 teams, one for single-player and one for multi-player. 4 does seem a bit much though, as if they've had a huge panic about not hitting that deadline.

    Still, it should be alright at worst.

  • Ryuken #7 3 years ago

    Digital Extremes did UT2k4 as well, they know how to design a good multiplayer.

    Clearly BioShock 2 will be four times as good as the original now.

  • Number1Laing #8 3 years ago

    Sounds to me like 2K is desperate to have this game out this year, for some reason. Bioshock 1 was so successful in part because it came out before the Christmas rush. This is arriving smack dab in the middle of it, a week before Modern Warfare 2.

    This won't end well.

  • Baranga #9 3 years ago

    Well, Demiurge provided art assests and created the arrival to Rapture sequence for the first one. Sounds to me like Arkane does pretty much the same things.

    Also, Arkane had much better plasmids in Dark Messiah :p
    Edited by 2 at 10/07/09 @ 14:39

  • john_silence #10 3 years ago

    Don't see the problem, Arkane is a proficient developer. Dark Messiah of Might & Magic was pretty atmospheric, I'd trust these guys to deliver.
    I remember they dropped their weird urban combat multi-single-player project recently to work on another, more established IP. Most people speculated it was DMM&M 2 - well, perhaps it was Bioshock 2 that they meant instead. Which would suck a little bit as they'd given a rather nice twist to that boring, generic fantasy series.

  • cobaltfram #11 3 years ago

    I'm rather worried about this game: it seems like blatant fan service, more about "ZOMG that'd be so cool let's put it in," less story and plot. I'm worried about this game, and the fact that Ken Levine isn't heading the project was the first red flag, all that time ago.

  • Yossarian #12 3 years ago

    But it's being headed by Jordan Thomas... so that's a giant green flag in my book.

  • loopy #13 3 years ago

    "But it's being headed by Jordan Thomas... so that's a giant green flag in my book."

    /agree

    I've no worries about the level design with this guy in charge, he knows how to design a great experience.

  • makeamazing #14 3 years ago

    I dont have any issues another team "Company" doing multiplayer, afterall, they will be using all the same assets etc, levels, and just making sure it works.. so actually thats ok. Its just the comment that they have another team in doing levels, guess the question is, is that MP levels, DLC or game levels. If it was game levels, then that would be worrying as the game is out in a few months.

  • metalangel #15 3 years ago

    @cobaltfram: it's not fan service at all, every fan I've spoken to has said they'd have much prefered a prequel.