Levine: "BioShock Paved the Way for Narrative Shooters"

BioShock lead designer Ken Levine recently said that if his game wasn’t successful, there “never would have been another game like this.” The game was acclaimed for its narrative techniques, as well as good gameplay.

“I don’t even know how we convinced people to pay for BioShock. These games had never made any money—everybody told us when we were pitching BioShock, sounds like a great idea, you’ll sell 150,000 units—next!” he said, adding that his team aimed to popularize the gameplay emphasized in BioShock, with blended first-person shooting with elements of role-playing and customization.”

“Before, as great as System Shock 2 and Deus Ex were, nobody bought them. We wanted to crack that. I think now, the sky’s the limit for how deep these games can go.”

A sequel to the game is currently in development, though Levine isn’t “substantially” involved in its development. He is currently working on a yet unannounced title.