2K Games has announced a partnership with Digital Extremes (of Unreal fame) in order to tap into the Canadian developer’s considerable expertise for the benefit of Bioshock. No doubt those of you who are aware of Digital Extremes will find this news pretty exciting. Click through for the official press release…
Premier Development Studio Tapped to Optimize BioShock® for the PLAYSTATION®3 System
New York, NY – July 3, 2008 – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it has signed an agreement with Digital Extremes to assist in the development of BioShock® for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Shipping to retailers in October 2008 with new features and content, the PLAYSTATION 3 system version of BioShock is being developed by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes.
“By partnering with Digital Extremes, 2K Games is delivering a fully optimized experience that takes advantage of the PLAYSTATION 3 system hardware,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Bringing Digital Extremes on board allows us to continue to deliver the best experience possible to our fans.”
Headquartered in London, Ontario, Digital Extremes brings more than 15 years of experience as one of the gaming industry’s premier developers. Digital Extremes pioneered technological and graphical design within the video gaming industry as the co-creators of Epic Games’ Unreal® franchise. Using the experience it gained from working on the recently released Dark Sector®, Digital Extremes is partnering with the 2K studios to help optimize BioShock’s performance on the PLAYSTATION 3 system.
“When 2K approached us to assist with development on BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system, it was a no-brainer,” said James Schmalz, CEO and founder of Digital Extremes. “You really can’t ask for a more exciting, technically impressive world to work in than Rapture, and the incredible knowledge and talent between the 2K studios and our team at Digital Extremes is unprecedented. The collaboration on this project will make the PLAYSTATION 3 system sing with Big Daddy goodness and Little Sister ‘thank you’s’.”
BioShock is a narrative-driven action experience that allows players to do the impossible as they journey through an amazing, immersive and terrifying world. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically mutated citizens, the player will come to grips with the mysterious and fascinating world of Rapture, a distinct Art Deco underwater utopia gone mad. BioShock not only challenges players’ capacity to adapt and survive, but brings to question their values and commitment to the inhabitants of Rapture. With smart and adaptive AI, no encounter ever plays out the same, while numerous customization options provide gamers with an experience that adapts to their playing style.
BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system will be available in October 2008 and is not yet rated by the ESRB. For additional details, visit www.bioshockgame.com.
I’de be tempted to have a look - bring on the Demo!
…even though I own it for 360 it would be interesting to see any various improvement/additions that take advantage of the PS3 juggernaut.
Comment by JohnSketch — Jul 4, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
Sounds interesting, though I would have been more excited aboot the prospective quality of the title if they had partnered with Insomniac Games or Naughty Dog.
I don’t own an Xbox 360 yet, and couldn’t get the PC demo working on my machine, so will be interested to see how it turns out on the PS3 as I’m quite keen to see what angle they have taken on Objectivism.
Comment by Savage — Jul 4, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
wait what? Digital Extremes “Darksector” had MAJOR framerate problems on the PS3
Comment by carl(threespeech censored me) — Jul 5, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
Where is Wipeout HD. Yawn.
Comment by Terry — Jul 5, 2008 @ 9:40 pm
Terry = Yawn
Comment by Rob — Jul 7, 2008 @ 12:14 am
Clearly 2K required a developer which had experience getting the Unreal Engine 3 up and running on the PS3. Bioshock is an UE3 game after all.
Comment by Rimas — Jul 7, 2008 @ 3:02 am
@ 6 : That is a fair assumption, but if you are looking for a team to tweak your Unreal Engine, who would truely squeeze some frame rates out of it, why not go with the tech leaders on that platform, namely Insomniac Games or Naughty Dogs. That would make more sense to me than Digital Extremes, who have only released 1 title on the PS3. Granted so has ND, but they knew what they were doing.
PS. I do hope that Naughty Dog announce either a Jax or an Uncharted sequel at E3!
Comment by Savage — Jul 7, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
@savage
Or a Jak/Uncharted cross-over title
Drake and Daxter Adventures
Jak Uncharted
Daxters Fortune
Comment by JohnSketch — Jul 7, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
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