Popular 'BioShock' Franchise Will Continue Despite Closure Of Game Studio

Earlier this week, Irrational Games co-founder and creative director Ken Levine announced in a blog post that the game developer will be shutting down.

This was a big blow to the gaming world. The 17-year-old company was the force behind the extremely popular "Bioshock" franchise. "Bioshock Infinite," the third game in the series, scored rave reviews across the board last year and was nominated for numerous "Game of the Year" awards.

While Levine will be starting a smaller "entrepreneurial endeavor" with "BioShock" publisher 2K Games, it looks like this may not be the final installment fans of Elizabeth and Booker will see of the game.

A representative for 2K Games sent the following over to Game Informer:

"BioShock is one of our most beloved and critically acclaimed franchises, and we are indebted to Ken and the talented team at Irrational Games for their contributions to the series with BioShock and BioShock Infinite; the latter being one of the most decorated games of 2013. …The BioShock universe remains a rich creative canvas for many untold stories, and we look forward to exploring the next BioShock experience."

While that's great, only 15 of Irrational Games' 100+ employees will be heading to 2K meaning it would be a lot of new faces working on any forthcoming release.

The final downloadable content for "Bioshock Infinite," "Burial at Sea 2," will be released March 25.