A year and a half after its announcement, BioShock Vita is still not in development
"Hey guys, do you want to work on this and not feed your family?"
More than a year and a half after its announcement at E3 2011, Irrational's BioShock game for PlayStation Vita is still not in development.
A deal has still not been signed between Take-Two - Irrational's parent company - and platform holder Sony.
"That's out of my hands right now," BioShock creator Ken Levine told IGN.
"I've got my fingers crossed that that's going to happen because it's something I want to do but until somebody starts signing the cheques, there's nothing I can do."
Sony admitted last week that PlayStation Vita was "a little behind the numbers we originally pictured" - a somewhat conservative statement after a year in which sales figures regularly trailed behind its predecessor the PSP and Nintendo's rival 3DS.
Something the Vita badly needs is exciting new games, Sony admitted. Surely a BioShock game would qualify?
"I feel we have a ways to go in terms of getting across the good traits of the PS Vita," Sony exec Hiroshi Kawano explained, "along with everything the software has to offer. Also, I want to keep pushing for more games that people want to play, since like our research showed, that's one thing blocking customers curious about the Vita from making a purchase."
Levine told Eurogamer in December that the decision to start work on the game lay in the hands of Take-Two's business people. And there it still remains, he added.
"I work for a company, for Take-Two. If they want us to do a game they need a deal in place that works for them and that makes sense for Sony.
"I've got people to pay," Levine continued. "'Hey guys, do you want to work on this and not feed your family?'"
Irrational has just finished work on BioShock Infinite, which launches for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 26th March. Next in the pipeline are three slices of DLC for the game - the contents of the recently-announced BioShock Infinite Season Pass.