the project. In April 2016, Levine stated he was working with Interlude to write and produce the pilot episode for an interactive, live-action series based on The Twilight Zone, which will be published by CBS. However as of January 2022, nothing has come to fruition. In 2017, Levine described the project as "in flux." Notable works Ken Levine is most notable for his conceptualization and work on the BioShock franchise. Levine and his team worked on BioShock and BioShock Infinite, passing on the opportunity to make BioShock 2. BioShock is set in 1960, where the player controls a man named Jack who is the sole survivor of a plane crash near a mysterious lighthouse in the mid-Atlantic. Jack finds a bathysphere and takes the submersible down to an underwater city called Rapture, a city that was dedicated to the pursuit of a perfect free market economy. The city has fallen into ruin due to the city's social implosion and Jack must find a way to survive against the crazed inhabitants and escape. BioShock Infinite is set in 1912, where main protagonist Booker DeWitt must travel to Columbia, a flying city that has no fixed location and rescue a girl named Elizabeth and bring her back to New York. No motivation is given as to why Booker must do this except the cryptic words "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt." Booker arrives at Columbia to find an American-Exceptionalist city dedicated to hailing the Founding Fathers that is led by a religious zealot known as Father Comstock. Style and themes Ken Levine is known for creating narrative-driven games that explore sociological and philosophical themes. He selects dynamic art styles for use in his games, such as art deco, steampunk and frontierism. Levine has explored concepts ranging from racial commentary to metaphysics with his games and emphasizes the storytelling aspect of gaming. He has cited Mad Men, the Coen brothers and Stanley Kubrick as some of his influences. Personal life While Levine considers himself culturally Jewish, he does not follow Judaism, and considers himself an atheist. List of works References External links Ken Levine on the success of BioShock Gamasutra Interview: Ken Levine on Studio Culture 1966 births Living people 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers Jewish American atheists 20th-century American Jews American video game designers BioShock (series) Irrational Games Jewish video game developers People from Flushing, Queens Vassar College