Oh say it isn’t so. While heavily downsized in 2014 after the launch of Bioshock Infinite, Irrational Games seems to be working on something again, and they are looking for new talent.
Now through Irrational’s website, there are two positions waiting to be filled. The first is a gameplay systems designer and tuner, which will be working on the studio’s “unannounced next project.” Sounds vague but the site also desires the designer to have “extensive understanding of the systems design process including damage tuning, loot tables, cooldowns, resources, upgrade systems, etc.,” as well as someone who is familiar with semi-open or open-world games. Finally, Irrational says that those with “ a passion for narrative first-person shooters is a plus.”
Just from those clues there is a bit to speculate. Loot systems and a semi-open world sounds more like a Diablo-esque RPG, but full-on sandbox experience and a thing for a more high-brow shootfests makes it seem like Irrational’s director, Ken Levine is letting his love of Shadow of Mordor show.
The second position is for a QA manager. One with experience once again with narrative FPSes, knows how to stress test the Unreal engine (which is confirmed to be the engine used), and must be accustomed to launching PC games on Steam. So we have ourselves a game developed for PC, runs on Unreal, will probably be a narrative sci-fi FPS, probably in the style of Bioshock, with some open world elements and RPG-style loot. Speculation is nice, but with Ken Levine at the helm, we are in for an experience that is guaranteed to at least be interesting.