Ken Levine renegotiating deal with Take Two, says Variety

Ken Levine, the director and designer of Take Two’s BioShock game, is currently in the midst of a lengthy contract negotiation with his publisher, Variety reports.

Apparently, Levine is looking for a better deal with his employer after the commercial and critical success of BioShock, and has been using the Creative Artists Agency to negotiate with Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick and CEO Ben Feder.

Says Variety: "Levine has become one of the very few recognisable and respected names in the videogame development community and he’s trying to use that to get the creative freedom and compensation he feels he deserves.

"Take-Two, meanwhile, obviously wants to keep the guy on board, but is probably wary both of not spending too much money and also not setting a precedent that it will regret having to follow with the creative director of every successful game going forward."

Variety postulates that, while negotiations have been in progress for some time and don’t look close to ending soon, "if Ken Levine does land a big contract at Take-Two, or elsewhere, I suspect it’ll be a harbinger of more such deals to come for the biggest talent in the videogame biz."