BioShock may not make the jump to Vita after all.

A BioShock game for Vita was announced at E3 2011, but we heard nothing concrete about the project after that. At the end of 2012, Irrational Games boss and BioShock creator Ken Levine said the project was on hold until 2K and Sony worked out the details, and this situation was unchanged by July 2013.

We finally have an update, but it’s not good news. Discussing the project in a series of recent tweets, Levine made it sound like there’s little hope.

on the Vita game: 2k and sony couldn't put a deal together when I last checked. They seemed way more optimistic about this back in 2011. — Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

Wish I could do it myself, but lawyers and all that. I still love my vita. Subscribe to the VG247 newsletter Get all the best bits of VG247 delivered to your inbox every Friday! Enable JavaScript to sign up to our newsletter — Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

Levine offered a tantalising glimpse into his vision for the shelved spin-off, confirming earlier comments that the Vita release would have been an entirely new experience, not a port of BioShock Infinite.

RT @chaddukes: @IGLevine what you had in mind for that game? –I was thinking a Final Fantasy Tactics style thing set in pre-fall Rapture. — Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

something that would work well on the vita and not be a compromise in any way. also, as some know, i'm a turn based whore. — Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014

It’s sad that the companies haven’t been able to reach an agreement, as they’ve since worked together on Borderlands 2 for Vita, but we can’t say this comes as much of a surprise, really – especially as Irrational Games was dismantled earlier this year.

It’s worth remembering that 2K owns the BioShock property, though – the publisher may put another team on the project. On that note, Levine expressed his hope that BioShock Infinite will be brought to next-gen systems.

Thanks, Siliconera.