2K Boston Acts Irrationally: Changes Their Name Back, Starts up Website, Talks to People

I had to put that in the title. It’s been some news going around lately, that the studio formerly known as 2K Boston, formerly known as Irrational Games, has changed their name to Irrational Games…if that makes sense.

You see, Irrational Games was mainly known back in the late nineties for co-developing the epic System Shock 2 along with the now defunct Looking Glass Studios, as well as some other titles like SWAT 4 in the mid-noughties (hate that word), and then another big hit – BioShock. This was the studio’s swansong under that name, because after that, they became 2K Boston.

Now, years later, 2K Boston has changed their name back to Irrational Games. They’ve launched their new website which all ready has a podcast up called “Irrational Behavior” and talks about game ideas that didn’t quite sell, like Division 9 (no, not District 9, although there is talk of that game, but that’s a whole other title, and not by Irrational), kind of like a tactical shooter title like SWAT 4 mixed with a zombie shooter, I suppose like Left 4 Dead 2.

Chris Kline, the Technical Director at Irrational Games, also posted in the ttlg forums (which has forums dedicated to the Thief series, System Shock 1& 2, Deus Ex, and BioShock) lately, writing the following:

“On the site we'll have regular podcast episodes and articles that reveal games and ideas that "didn't make it", and generally give the community more insight into our studio and the development process.

So if this sounds interesting to you, please stop by and check out the forums, podcast, and articles.”

Ken Levine also posted something up on the official site:

“The Irrational Games website is about secrets.

Secrets. We’ve all got ‘em. When we ship a box to GameStop or Best Buy, it’s only part of the story. There are so many secret elements that go into our games. There are the levels that got cut. There are the monsters that died in childbirth. There are the million interactions a development team has in the long, frustrating, terrifying and often thrilling process of making a video game.

Some of you first heard about us when we released BioShock. Some of you have known us since our first game back in 1999, System Shock 2. Many members of the Irrational team have been with us since either the beginning or damned close to it. Some of them have come on board more recently. They all have a part to play in the development of this website. You’ll hear their voices – quite literally in the case of our “Irrational Behavior” podcast .You’ll get to see some ideas that never made it in our “From the Vault” section that launches next week.   You’ll get to hang out with the team in our forums-and there you’ll get to tell us what you think as well. And we’ll be listening.

And yes, we will tell you about the game we’re working on right now. Just not today.”

I like the website design so far, and it looks as though this studio is opening up more and going the more social route. And let’s face it, nowadays it’s probably a good idea.

So, I wonder if BioShock 2, which should be released next month, will have Irrational Games in the opening logos as well as the credits, or if it’ll still be 2K Boston? The money’s on Irrational, probably.

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http://irrationalgames.com/

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2K Boston Acts Irrationally: Changes Their Name Back, Starts up Website, Talks to People