Amidst the Turmoil, a Silver Lining: Positive Developments Arise

In recent hours, the BioShock saga has been talked about directly and indirectly again. Judas, the undeclared heir to the license developed by Ken Levine, attracted a handful of journalists. The resemblance to the Take-Two and 2K Games franchise is striking, but the game obviously has some narrative assets to free itself from its model. This week, BioShock Infinite also celebrated its 11th anniversary, leading one user to ask about the next installment. And against expectations, he got a response.

Is BioShock 4 still in development?

BioShock 4 is extremely discreet and the only way to find out more about the project is to look at the various job offers published for at least four years. This fourth opus is designed within Cloud Chamber, a studio founded in 2019, and does not intend to draw a line under its legacy. From what we have read here and there, the developers want a narrative experience with “character and personality”, within a “new and fantastic world”.

There should therefore be no recycling of Rapture or Columbia, but perhaps references or winks. According to an old rumor, to be taken with a grain of salt, BioShock Isolation (the unofficial title of the leaked game) could even opt for a city cut in two. On the surface, there would be a free and wealthy society, and underneath, a sort of much more disturbing mirror version with a tyrant determined to rise again to take over the city. According to the classifieds, Cloud Chamber would like to build an “emerging sandbox world”, interactive and scalable, with a dialogue management system. Full of promise a priori, but where is the game today?

A user directly asked the question under 2K Games' tweet for Infinite's 11th anniversary, and apparently BioShock 4 is alive and well. “Is a new BioShock game still in development?”. » can we read on

Unexpected news that pleases

If this answer is very reassuring, it is because the news around BioShock 4 is not really. We learned that the script was in good hands since it was entrusted to Liz Albl. She contributed to various big Ubisoft games like Watch Dogs Legion, Far Cry 4 & 5 and Ghost of Tsushima. On the other hand, rumors have spread across the Web and are not at all encouraging. In a thread published on Twitter in 2023, a person reported hellish development and revealed that the game would have been rebooted for the fourth time… in 2022. These problems would be due to disorganization at the studio, but also to a lack of employee experience. And the scenario, although essential, would be one of the aspects in difficulty.

As with the concept of the two cities, tweezers are more than necessary. That being said, another discovery could support this rumor. According to the ArtStation account of Mack Stztaba, artistic designer of the studio, BioShock 4 would not be released before 2028. For now, we must make do with what we have, that is to say 2K's response Games which confirms that the project is still on track.