Bioshock 2 Gets a 4th Developer, Also, Delayed!

New developers stepping in on an existing intellectual property has always been many a fanboy’s wet dream.  “Hmm, what if Square Enix made a Pokemon game?” was one of the many conversations that usually abruptly ended in my middle school days.  Realistically, however, franchises likes Metroid, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, and more recently, the Castlevaniaseries have all changed developers, and their sequels have barely lived up to, or been just as good as their predecessors (save Castlevania, who’s newest iteration with Kojima’s team taking some of the production responsibilities isn’t slated to release until 2010).

One of the most recent developments on one of these developer mash-ups is Bioshock 2.  The two 2K studios that were already working on the single-player portion, Digital Extremes doing the controversial multiplayer features, and now, Arkane Studios assisting with Art assets, animation, and design.

This, coupled with the recent news that Bioshock 2 would be delayed, does not give me high hopes for all of these hands in the kitchen.  I already didn’t like the fact that Bioshock 2 was getting a sequel so soon, and a multiplayer feature that it doesn’t really need.  I hope this delay doesn’t negatively effect the game, but I don’t see the four developers that are working on this project wowing me as much as the first Bioshock did.  Let’s hope that 2K, Digital Extremes, and Arkane Studios can prove me wrong.