Irrational Games Renamed - Say Hello to 2K Boston

[Dr.Finger]

GamesIndustry (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=27572) brings word that Take-Two Interactive has renamed two of its internal studios, bringing them under the 2K Games umbrella. Irrational Games, the studio behind the upcoming BioShock, will have their headquarters rechristened 2K Boston while their Canberra branch will now be called 2K Australia. The name changes are supposed to represent the central place both studios have in 2K's upcoming plans.

Yes, its a slow news day. A slow news week and a slow news month

[Voodoo]

Great news! It is great to see them get some awesome backing from 2K.

[Delenda]

Seems a bit mean to change the name just as their critically acclaimed super blockbuster goes gold. I would have liked the Irrational name to get some credit for it, instead of slapping the 2k brand on the front of the box.

[Slack3r78]

And yet another respected developer nameplate goes by the wayside.

[Tricky Thumb]

And why exactly can't they get more backing by remaining as Irrational Games?

2K Boston just sounds like "those guys who make that -insert generic franchise- game" which is a little sad.

[Xerxes]

Boooooooooooo?

[Sl1pstream]

Damn right it's Boooooooooooo! It worked for EA so it must work for 2K, right?

[KingGorilla]

Should we start the countdown to when Ken Levine leaves?

[Gedd]

Lame, but a name isn't everything.

Rockstar Games? DMA Design.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

And why exactly can't they get more backing by remaining as Irrational Games?

2K Boston just sounds like "those guys who make that -insert generic franchise- game" which is a little sad.
This is exactly what I thought when I read about the name change. Now they sound like they are a random cog in some machine.

[Xerxes]

Damn right it's Boooooooooooo! It worked for EA so it must work for 2K, right?

Irrational Games, Getting irrational names,
Your right as far as I'm concerned EA is to blame,
It's damn shame... Really though isn't it.:D

Ubi doing the same. I hate dev house naming after the company for the sake of branding.

[Sl1pstream]

I didn't say EA was to blame. But they're most known for absorbing studios and giving them generic names. They're not the only ones but they seem to be doing it the most.

[EGO]

Irrational Games, Getting irrational names,
Your right as far as I'm concerned EA is to blame,
It's damn shame... Really though isn't it.:D

Ubi doing the same. I hate dev house naming after the company for the sake of branding.

Damn that piece of shit EA for forcing Take2 to ride on the name of yet another developer and building their brand, instead of letting the developer be and build the dev's name!

DAMN EA ALL TO HELL!

[EGO]

On a side note, I don't think this is a good thing, but only time will tell...

In the meantime, I can't wait for my copy of Bioshock!

[Xerxes]

I didn't say EA was to blame. But they're most known for absorbing studios and giving them generic names. They're not the only ones but they seem to be doing it the most.
Meh, don't back track. EA influences the industry to do a bunch of silly shit.

[inmostlight]

I don't like the new name. "Irrational" was a creative and unique name. "2K Boston" is boring and generic. I also know a lot of people who have an intense hatred of Boston. I mean, do they want to be associated with overreacting to mooninites?

[GunnyMo]

And yet another respected developer nameplate goes by the wayside.

Exactly! Now they sound like they make freakin' sports games. Taking a well known, respected name and changing it to something as bland and unoriginal as "2K Boston"? Sheesh. Why stop with 2K Boston? Why not just rename them "Take Two Studio #1", "Take Two Studio #2", etc.?

2K Boston. :rolleyes: Ranks right up there with GameCock and Pre-Teen Raider.

[toranaga]

booooooo, lame ass stunt

[hotcoffeeburns]

Oh noes! They've owned Irrational for over a year now and decided to change their name! THE TRAVESTY!

Who cares?

[Wedge]

Now what do I do with my Irrational Games tattoo.

Good thing I've got it on a spot where the sun rarely shines.

[Disgustipated]

Pretty lame. The new name sucks, I hope all of Irrational leaves and we get another studio, ala Looking Glass...

[CrashT]

Irrational Games are a recognised, and respected name, but who remembers which Ubisoft, EA, or 2K studio made what titles? This is just a way to obfuscate who actually worked on which title so that 2K can implied that another internally developed game was developed by the team behind Bioshock.

It's DMA Design all over again. They got renamed Rockstar North, and now everybody associates Rockstar Games as a whole, with the development of the Grand Theft Auto series.

I've lost track of the number of times I've heard people saying Bully (aka Canis Canem Edit) was made by the same development team as Grand Theft Auto when it was an entirely different team allbeit one still under the Rockstar branding.

The same thing seems likely to happen now. People will associate 2K with Bioshock and anything Irrational now develop, so that other titles released by 2K will be talked about as being "By the people who made Bioshock."

[Darcydian]

"Hey guys, I know we're just your publisher and all but we'd like to go exclusive, give you $$$$ funding for your next project if you become and in-house dev team and change your name to X"

" $$$$ ?"

"Yes that's right $$$$"

"Irrational who?"

[bryan]

IThe same thing seems likely to happen now. People will associate 2K with Bioshock and anything Irrational now develop, so that other titles released by 2K will be talked about as being "By the people who made Bioshock."

To the people who would make the distinction between publisher and dev studio, they'd know. To the Wal-Mart crowd, they really only tracked the publisher anyway.

[ElektroDragon]

DAMN SONY for taking over the GODS of game dev that were Psygnosis and renaming them Sony Studios Liverpool!

[Johan]

The same thing seems likely to happen now. People will associate 2K with Bioshock and anything Irrational now develop, so that other titles released by 2K will be talked about as being "By the people who made Bioshock."

Bullseye.

On the money.

QFT.

And all that.

[Xerxes]

Irrational Games are a recognised, and respected name, but who remembers which Ubisoft, EA, or 2K studio made what titles? This is just a way to obfuscate who actually worked on which title so that 2K can implied that another internally developed game was developed by the team behind Bioshock.
Well we do remember, Ubi Shanghai bad, Ubi Montreal Good.

[Rock Bandit]

Not smart. In about a thousand years that 2k name is going to sound sooooooo dated.

[Serapth]

Makes sense... 2K wants to strengthen their brand.

They have been releasing some of the best games lately, so im ok with it. Civ 4, The Darkness, Oblivion and the upcoming Bioshock. Sounds good to me.

[jeffbax]

lame as hell.

[beefyjr]

Lame, but a name isn't everything.

Rockstar Games? DMA Design.

While I agree with you on paper, in reality Rockstar has always been synonymous with GTA. Most people have no idea who DMA Designs is.

Also: Way to go 2K Games! You already have quite possibly the worst fucking name out of every publisher in the industry. Hooray for homogenization!

[Deathwave]

Goodbye Irrational...FF forever!

[panopticon]

Well, it does seem like a rational choice.

(Ba dum pshhh.)

[Slack3r78]

Seeing the 2K Boston logo pop up loading the Bioshock demo made me quite sad indeed.

[jeffbax]

Seeing the 2K Boston logo pop up loading the Bioshock demo made me quite sad indeed.

Same, I was really disappointed. Irrational had personality to it... 2k Boston does not.