Report: Bioshock Infinite multiplayer canned

A pair of multiplayer modes may be out of Bioshock Infinite, following word yesterday that a handful of key staff had departed from the game’s development team.

Kotaku reports that a pair of long-rumoured co-op modes have been completely axed from the game.

The two modes included a tower-defense type that apparently ‘never worked’, and another type internally called ‘Spec-Ops’ which played similar to the co-op Modern Warfare mode of the same name.

Following the report, Bioshock creator Ken Levine reached out to assure all was well, and that the game was still on track for a February 2013 release.

Levine added in his two cents on the recent departures as well:

"In a company of 200 people you’re going to have turnover," Levine tells Kotaku. "We never like to see a guy like Nate leave because he’s been here for a long time, but it’s been 13 years and I think sometimes people want to spread their wings. I’m not going to stop people. We love Nate and I think we all remain friends. After 13 years he sort of finished his work on BioShock Infinite, as you will be able to tell when you see the game again… I think Nate’s moving on to something else.

"As far as the team itself, the lead artist, the art director, the creative director, the lead effects artist, the senior sound guy, the lead programer and the lead AI programmer from BioShock 1 are all on BioShock Infinite. I don’t think there’s a single senior BioShock team member that isn’t here, which I think is amazing and a testament to their commitment to the studio."

In related news, former Epic Games’ director of production Rod Fergusson has joined Irrational Games in an unknown capacity to work on Bioshock Infinite.

"Yes it’s true, I’m leaving my family at Epic to join my new family at Irrational in Boston starting tomorrow," Fergusson said on Twitter. "And yes I’ve played Infinite and it’s amazing! Can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on it."