Ken Levine re-negotiating contract with Take-Two
Have you been wondering why "Bioshock" creative guru and 2K Boston chief Ken Levine has been strangely absent from the press recently? Why "Bioshock 2" is being made at a separate studio and all Take-Two has said is that he "will be involved?" Why he wasn't available to talk on the record about the "Bioshock" movie? Why nobody knows what's up with him?
As several sources have confirmed for me, the answer is simple: Levine is re-negotiating his contract. Coming off the big commercial success (2.2 million units sold) and even bigger critical success of the game, Levine has become one of the very few recognizable and respected names in the videogame development community and he's trying to use that to get the creative freedom and compensation he feels he deserves. Take-Two, meanwhile, obviously wants to keep the guy on board, but is probably wary both of not spending too much money and also not setting a precedent that it will regret having to follow with the creative director of every successful game going forward.
I don't know the exact status of negotiations, except that they've been going on for a couple of months at least and don't look to be over in the very near future. I do know that Hollywood powerhouse agency CAA is representing Levine and that both Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick and CEO Ben Feder have been directly involved.
As everything from Tomonobu Itagaki leaving Team Ninja and Tecmo to Bungie splitting with Microsoft demonstrate, developers are itching for more recognition, compensation, and independence. If Ken Levine does land a big contract at Take-Two, or elsewhere, I suspect it'll be a harbinger of more such deals to come for the biggest talent in the videogame biz.
CAA and Take-Two both declined to comment.
Chris Morris reports on the business and culture of video games and offers analysis of recent events and industry trends.
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I think the move towards a more Hollywood-style talent model is a good thing for development.
Frankly, I don't know if Ken is worth the money or not, but he and his team made an awesome game which made a significant amount of revenue for Take 2. I have no idea what their compensation level was, but I suspect it wasn't as much as you would expect (based on my experience working on AAA, multi-million selling projects).
If you are good and can make hit games repeatedly, then you are worth the money. Videogames is a hit-driven business - moreso than movies, where even the bad ones will make money from worldwide distribution deals, DVD, cable and pay TV. If you have the brass ones to demand a Hollywood talent style deal, you need to deliver or you will find yourself out on your ass at the end of the contract.
Now, while we're on the subject of Hollywood, how about unions for rank-and-file coders and artists? :)
Posted by: Anon | June 17, 2008 at 06:54 AM
I've worked two desks down from with Ken for nearly 7 years now, since the time when Irrational was a scrappy independent studio. In that time I've come to realize that the only thing Ken cares about is creating amazing games with the most talented people in the industry, and doing it with integrity.
The nice thing about having spent 5 years of your life sweating blood to create game like BioShock is that, once it's done, you can go anywhere and work on any project you want. Which is why I'm grateful that the team we made BioShock with is still coming into work every day, sitting in the same old chairs, working with Ken on another great game.
Posted by: Christopher Kline | June 15, 2008 at 08:19 PM
I agree with manic.half & Warren Spector was the producer on System Shock 1, they're all tied together so there is no point in trying to say one ripped the other off.
I've noticed that the "Bioshock backlash" particularly comes from PC gamers because of I can only presume jealously/sour grapes over the popularity of Bioshock on the console platform even now as it grows bigger into a movie.
The switch from Irrational games which were PC focused to the consoles being their primary platform mixed with a dose of been there done it (because of system shock 1/2) draws their ire. Games get remade all the time look at Alone in the Dark as the latest one but so rarely does the level of bitching get to Bioshock levels.
You only have to look at Epic as another example of a company that thrived on the consoles and the backlash began very quickly on PC gamer hangouts like Shacknews, Rock Paper Shotgun & more.
Posted by: Xen | June 15, 2008 at 04:26 PM
your an idiot 'anonymous'
levine DESIGNED system shock 2. which inspired deus ex (even spector admitted this). and bioshock obviously continues that tradition.
people get to jealous when somebody has talent, perhaps because they were born with none themselves.
Posted by: manic.half | June 15, 2008 at 04:13 PM
BioShock was an incredibly derivative game -- it steals a lot from Deus Ex and System Shock, but sets it all underwater with a weird Ayn Rand theme. Yes, there were some great things about that game, but none of them had anything to do with Ken Levine.
I've never met Ken, but everybody I've talked to in the industry who knows him hates him, and I've heard he's driven a lot of the team away.
The last thing we need in this industry is more egocentric rock star "it's all about me" types who take credit for the team's work and create firestorms of negative publicity for themselves while not actually contributing anything helpful toward the games themselves.
The best thing Take Two can do for Ken Levine and himself is get rid of him. There's no question the team can make a better BioShock 2 without him than they can with him.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 14, 2008 at 08:09 AM
Take Two are right to be wary, Ken's a talented guy no doubt about that but games which were a major commercial success in his back catalogue number in the one with Bioshock. Which lets be honest was a very good game but borrowed heavily from Ken's System Shock 2 (which was a commercial failure).
EA even shot down Ken's proposal for System Shock 3 which then sent his team into working on Bioshock. What else is in there, Freedom Force, a Thief game and the SWAT franchise decent games but none really having major commercial success.
And whats Levine working on next well according to rumours a remake of the hardcore turn based X-Com strategy games that isn't exactly going to be product popular with the masses either.
If this comes of as harsh it's not meant to be I hope Ken gets to the make the kinds of games he wants to but whether they will be big sellers is the million dollar question
Posted by: Xen | June 14, 2008 at 06:36 AM