Ken Levine

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Lore & Background

Levine was named one of the 'Storytellers of the Decade' by Game Informer and was the 1UP Network's 2007 person of the year. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Game Developers Choice Awards.

In Their Own Story

The lights in the conference room flickered as Ken Levine stared at a whiteboard covered in tangled lines of dialogue and branching paths. 'The player needs to feel complicit,' he said, erasing a node. 'Not just a witness—a participant in the tragedy.' Outside, the Boston rain streaked the windows, but inside, the air was thick with the ghost of Rapture. A junior designer asked about the ending. Levine smiled, the same smile that had haunted the halls of Irrational Games since System Shock 2. 'You'll know it when you see it. And you won't forget it.'

Reader's Guide

Levine was born in Flushing, New York, to a Jewish family. Raised in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, he graduated from Northern Highlands Regional High School. He studied drama at Vassar College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama in 1988. He worked as a computer consultant on Wall Street before entering the game industry. In 1995, he was hired by Looking Glass Studios, where he worked on Thief: The Dark Project. In 1997, he co-founded Irrational Games, which developed System Shock 2, Freedom Force, Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich, Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, BioShock, and BioShock Infinite. In 2005, Irrational Games was sold to Take-Two Interactive. In February 2014, Levine announced Irrational Games would close, with fifteen staff following him to focus on narrative-driven games. On February 23, 2017, Irrational Games was rebranded as Ghost Story Games. On December 8, 2022, Ghost Story Games revealed Judas.

Did You Know?

• Levine played Oscar Madison in a high school production of 'The Odd Couple.'
• He delivered the keynote address at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo.
• Levine has been a consultant and co-author of three books related to the BioShock franchise.
• He was confirmed to write the script for a film adaptation of Logan's Run, but the project was reported as stalled or in development limbo.

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