Top Bioshock Infinite team members depart from Irrational

At least a handful of members from the Bioshock Infinite development team have departed six months ahead of the game’s current release date.

Design lead Jeff McGann, director of product development Tim Gerritsen, principal systems designer Kenneth Strickland, and art director Nate Wells all list Irrational as a past employer on LinkedIn.

Wells had been with Irrational since 1999.

Irrational so far has not issued any direct comments regarding the staff shuffle, but Bioshock creator Ken Levine did take to Twitter to share that Scott Sinclair would be replacing Wells as art director. Sinclair sat in the same position for the original Bioshock.

Levine added that he couldn’t wait to show fans of the franchise what’s behind the curtain. That said, the staff exits do seem a bit conspicuous. It may indicate some trouble for the much anticipated effort, though it’s not out of the question that Irrational, like many other AAA development studios, is just naturally sheding staff as they move closer to launch.

Bioshock Infinite is due out in February 2013.