'Tis But Thy Name That Is My Enemy

As has been understood for millennia, names are important – they designate us and therefore play a part in defining who we are. For a game development studio, a name is not just a hint at the kind of mindset within, but a blank slate upon which a reputation can be built. Some of the best developers’ names have value that is nearly incalculable; any new release announcement from them is automatically widely reported, simply on the basis of their pedigree. So it is with great disappointment that we note that, in some bizarre idea of a reward for completing BioShock, the publisher Take-Two has decided to rename Irrational, the studio that created it, into the faceless, dead, and insulting “2K Boston”. Gone, now, is the chance for Irrational to create its own identity in the vein of Blizzard or Bungie: to anyone who is unaware of the developer’s work, it’s just a branch office of a struggling publisher. This seemingly innocuous change is a big loss for Irrational and a setback for developers in general.

Comments

[sean]

Missed this last year but I totally agree... I read that the studio sacrificed its independence to make Bioshock, but I'm not sure if that's true or just a rumor. Either way, 2K made a mistake. The sad thing is that in a few years, most of us will struggle to remember that 2K Boston (and 2K Marin, really) were once called Irrational Software.