Editing Ken Levine (game developer) (section)

== Career ==
===Early life===
Levine was born in [[Flushing, New York]], to a Jewish family.<ref>{{cite web|title=BioShock's Jewish Roots Run Deep|first=Cody|last=Mello-Klein|website=Kotaku|date=July 10, 2018|url=https://kotaku.com/bioshocks-jewish-roots-run-deep-1827482206}}</ref> Raised in [[Upper Saddle River, New Jersey]], Levine graduated from [[Northern Highlands Regional High School]].<ref>Bastug, Gregory. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-news-from-ken-levine-at-vassa/166238062/ "Around Town"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', December 30, 1987. Accessed February 20, 2025, via [[Newspapers.com]]. "Kenneth Levine of Upper Saddle River performed in the Vassar College Drama Department production of "Morn to Midnight." The play, by Paul Schmidt, is an adaptation of a German play by George Kaiser. Levine is a senior at Vassar and a graduate of Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale."</ref>

He studied drama at [[Vassar College]], graduating with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in drama in 1988<ref>{{cite web|last=Scharr|first=Jillian|title=Levine '88 discusses career as game developer|url=http://www.miscellanynews.com/2.1579/levine-88-discusses-career-as-game-developer-1.2167708#.UPd1Wieum50|publisher=The Miscellany News|access-date=January 17, 2013|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313081830/http://www.miscellanynews.com/2.1579/levine-88-discusses-career-as-game-developer-1.2167708#.UPd1Wieum50|archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> in [[Poughkeepsie, New York]] before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film career, writing two screenplays.<ref name=paxkeynote>Levine, Ken. [http://irrationalgames.com/insider/pax-2008-keynote-with-ken-levine/ "PAX 2008 Keynote"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722100132/http://irrationalgames.com/insider/pax-2008-keynote-with-ken-levine/ |date=July 22, 2011 }}, August 30, 2008. Referenced April 4, 2011.</ref>

Before he got into gaming, Levine worked as a computer consultant on [[Wall Street]] but admitted he was not very good at it, describing his attitude towards the job as a "slacker".<ref>{{cite web |last1=GameSpot |title=Hot Seat: Ken Levine Interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taFNwbiseDE&t=3m07s |website=YouTube |date=July 7, 2010 |access-date=April 27, 2023}}</ref>

===Looking Glass===
In 1995, Levine was hired as a game designer by [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]-based [[Looking Glass Studios]] after replying to a job ad in [[Next Generation (magazine)|''Next Generation'' magazine]].<ref name=paxkeynote /> At Looking Glass, he worked with pioneering designer [[Doug Church]]<ref>G4 TV. [http://www.g4tv.com/videos/51802/Feedback-LIVE-At-PAX-East-2011-With-Ken-Levine/ "Feedback LIVE! At PAX East 2011 With Ken Levine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017063601/http://www.g4tv.com/videos/51802/Feedback-LIVE-At-PAX-East-2011-With-Ken-Levine/ |date=October 17, 2012 }}, March 12, 2011. Referenced April 4, 2011.</ref> to establish the initial fiction and design of ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]''.<ref>Omni. [http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/freedom-force-vs-the-third-reich-interview.htm "Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich Q&A with Ken Levine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923173700/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/freedom-force-vs-the-third-reich-interview.htm |date=September 23, 2015 }}, "The Armchair Empire," March 10, 2005. Referenced April 4, 2011.</ref>

===Irrational Games===
In 1997, following his work on ''Thief'', Levine left Looking Glass along with two coworkers, Jonathan Chey and Robert Fermier, to found Irrational Games.<ref>Irrational Games. [http://irrationalgames.com/studio/ "Studio"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404002724/http://irrationalgames.com/studio/ |date=April 4, 2011 }}, referenced April 4, 2011.</ref> The studio's first game was ''[[System Shock 2]]'', an early hybrid of a [[role-playing game]] and [[first-person shooter]]. It is the sequel to Looking Glass' ''[[System Shock]]'' (1994). Levine served as lead writer and designer,<ref>MobyGames. [http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/system-shock-2/credits "System Shock (1999) Windows credits"], "MobyGames," referenced April 4, 2011.</ref> and the game shipped in 1999 to critical acclaim.<ref>Metacritic. [https://www.metacritic.com/game/system-shock-2/critic-reviews/?platform=pc "System Shock 2 for PC Reviews"], referenced April 4, 2011.</ref>

Irrational Games developed ''[[Freedom Force (2002 video game)|Freedom Force]]'' and its sequel ''[[Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich]]'', real-time tactical role-playing games that drew heavily on the love Levine and Irrational Games's artist Robb Waters had for the [[Silver Age of Comic Books]]. After the first ''Freedom Force'' game, Irrational developed the first-person shooters ''[[Tribes: Vengeance]]'' and ''[[SWAT 4]]'', on which Levine served as writer and executive producer respectively.

Although ''Tribes: Vengeance'', ''SWAT 4'', and ''Third Reich'' all shipped within a year of one another in 2004 and 2005, Irrational Games had been working in preproduction on the first-person shooter ''[[BioShock]]'', the studio's most ambitious game at that point, since 2002.<ref>Irrational Games. [http://irrationalgames.com/insider/from-the-vault-may/ "From the Vault – The BioShock Pitch"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813232138/http://irrationalgames.com/insider/from-the-vault-may/ |date=August 13, 2015 }}, referenced April 4, 2011.</ref> The game went through numerous revisions to its premise and gameplay, and was released in August 2007.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fear|first=Ed|title=Bioshock|website=MCV|date=June 23, 2008|url=http://www.develop-online.net/news/bioshock-was-a-sequence-of-failures-and-errors/0103034|publisher=develop|access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref> In 2005, Levine, Chey, and Fermier sold Irrational Games to publisher [[Take-Two Interactive]]. Take-Two Interactive changed their name to [[2K (company)|2K]], just as ''BioShock'' was released. ''BioShock'' was a critical and commercial success, and is considered [[List of video games considered the best|one of the best video games of all time]].<ref>Metacritic. [http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/all?view=condensed&sort=desc "Highest and Lowest Scoring Games at Metacritic"], referenced April 4, 2011.</ref> The [[BioShock (series)|''BioShock'' franchise]] has sold over 25 million units to date.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/06/01/bioshock-franchise-sees-lifetime-sales-of-25m-copies-with-11m-from-infinite-alone/|title=BioShock franchise sees lifetime sales of 25M copies – with 11M from Infinite alone|first=Dale|last=North|date=June 1, 2015|work=VentureBeat}}</ref>

In 2008, Levine delivered the keynote address at the [[Penny Arcade Expo]] in Seattle, discussing his youth as a nerd in the 1970s and how it impacted the path of his career.<ref name="paxkeynote" />

Since the release of ''BioShock'', Levine served as creative director and lead writer on ''[[BioShock Infinite]]'', set in 1912 in the floating city of [[Columbia (BioShock Infinite)|Columbia]]. ''BioShock Infinite'' was a critical and commercial success, winning over 80 awards pre-release.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bioshock Infinite wins 75 E3 editorial honors|url=http://irrationalgames.com/insider/bioshock-infinite-wins-75-e3-editorial-honors/|publisher=Irrational Games|access-date=November 20, 2013|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103603/http://irrationalgames.com/insider/bioshock-infinite-wins-75-e3-editorial-honors/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Game|url=http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/the-game/|publisher=Irrational Games|access-date=November 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330040712/http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/the-game|archive-date=March 30, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 2014, Levine announced that Irrational Games would be closing down, with fifteen members of the staff to follow Levine to focus on digital only, narrative-driven games for Take-Two.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://irrationalgames.com/new-featured/a-message-from-ken-levine-2/ |title=A Message From Ken Levine |access-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140219101811/http://irrationalgames.com/new-featured/a-message-from-ken-levine-2/ |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He stated in a 2016 interview that the stress of managing ''Infinite''{{'}}s development had affected his health and personal relationships, and rather than stay on to lead an even larger ''BioShock'' game, opted to depart from it.<ref name="glixel sept2016">{{cite magazine | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160916112859/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/we-were-all-miserable-inside-bioshock-video-game-franchise-w439921 | archive-date = September 16, 2016 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/we-were-all-miserable-inside-bioshock-video-game-franchise-w439921 | title = Inside the Making of 'BioShock' Series With Creator Ken Levine | first = Chris | last = Suellentrop | date = September 14, 2016 | access-date = September 15, 2016 | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | url-status = dead }}</ref>

===Ghost Story Games===
On February 23, 2017, Irrational Games was rebranded as [[Ghost Story Games]], founded by 12 of the former Irrational members with Levine remaining as president and creative director.<ref name="gamespot ghoststory">{{cite web | url = http://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-bioshock-studio-irrational-games-adopts-a-n/1100-6448166/ | title = Former BioShock Studio Irrational Games Adopts A New Name | first = Chris | last= Pereira |date = February 23, 2017 | access-date = February 23, 2017 | work = [[GameSpot]] }}</ref> In January 2022, the studio's game was reported to be in [[development hell]], with employees blaming Levine for a lack of leadership in producing a vaguely pitched game that Levine described as a "narrative [[LEGO]]" in which every player would have a unique experience.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.polygon.com/2013/10/9/4816828/ken-levines-next-big-thing-isnt-so-much-a-game-as-it-is-a-reinvention | title = Ken Levine on his secret post-BioShock 'thought experiment' | first = Brian| last = Crecente | date = October 9, 2013 | access-date = January 10, 2022 | work = [[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]}}</ref> On December 8, 2022, they revealed their game, the first-person shooter ''[[Judas (video game)|Judas]].''