2K Games Announces 4th ‘BioShock’ Being Developed For Next-Gen Consoles At New Studio Without Original Creator

BioShock-Collection-2015-PlayStation-4-Xbox-One

2K Games


BioShock fans, we’ve got some excellent news and some discouraging news. 2K Games announced that a brand-new BioShock game is on its way, but this title will likely not involve the series creator. Another bittersweet aspect of the announcement is that the massively popular first-person shooter video game series is that its release is still years away.

The fourth installment of the sci-fi retrofuturistic FPS is on its way and it will appear on the next-generation of gaming consoles. The original BioShock video game debuted in 2007 on the Xbox 360 that explored an underwater dystopian 1960’s. Then came BioShock 2 in 2010 and BioShock Infinite in 2013. The BioShock trilogy was extremely successful and sold more than 33 million units.

There were questions as to whether the franchise would continue after the original developers, Irrational Games, shut down.

However, it does not sound as if the original creator of the beloved video game franchise will be involved. Ken Levine, the creator behind the first and third games, will be working on a different project at Ghost Story Games.

BioShock veterans Hoagy de le Plante, Scott Sinclair, and Jonathan Pelling will be working on the upcoming title. As well as Kelley Gilmore, who is the Global Studio Head and will lead the project. Gilmore previously worked on XCOM and Civilization.

The next BioShock will be developed at the Cloud Chamber studios in San Francisco, California, and in Montreal, Quebec, which will be headed by Ken Schachter.

“We founded Cloud Chamber to create yet-to-be-discovered worlds – and their stories within – that push the boundaries of what is possible in the video game medium,” Gilmore said. “Our team believes in the beauty and strength of diversity, in both the makeup of the studio and the nature of its thinking. We are a deeply experienced group of game makers, including many responsible for BioShock’s principal creation, advancement, and longstanding notoriety, and honored to be part of the 2K family as stewards of this iconic franchise.”

“Environments have played a critical role throughout BioShock history and are incredibly important to the gameplay experience,” Gilmore, who has 22 years of experience under her belt, told GamesRadar. “There are many creative directions to explore, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see where we go next.”

The first two titles of the game inspired by Ayn Rynd’s writings were set in the underwater city of Rapture, and the third was in the sky city of Columbia.

“As we continue growing our product portfolio, we remain inspired by opportunities to invest further in our valuable IP, great people, and their collective, long-term potential,” said David Ismailer, President of 2K. “BioShock is one of the most beloved, critically praised, and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation*. We can’t wait to see where its powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay head in the future with our new studio team at Cloud Chamber leading the charge.”

The game, code-named “Parkside,” has been under development since 2015. Now we wait “several years” for BioShock 4, according to the 2K press release.

[ComingSoon]