BioShock 4 has "had some ups and downs along the way," but Take-Two CEO promises "hand on heart, without question" that the immersive sim is "going to come out"

BioShock 4 is apparently in some trouble, as even publisher Take-Two has acknowledged recent reports of a big development shakeup on the long-awaited immersive sim. You'd be forgiven for worrying that the game might never come out, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is promising in no uncertain terms that the game will, indeed, see the light of day.

"It's going to come out," Zelnick tells IGN. "That I can say hand on heart, without question."

Zelnick acknowledges that BioShock 4, which was announced six years ago and is still yet to reveal a single shred of gameplay, has "had some ups and downs along the way," and that "we have had changes in studio leadership. That said, we have very big shoes to fill on BioShock because of the legacy of Ken Levine, the legacy of what has gone before, which has been so successful. And we need to make sure that this experience is true to the BioShock DNA on the one hand, and a massive step forward on the other hand. That's always challenging. We think we're up to the challenge, but it has not been seamless."

It might be tough for some BioShock fans to imagine the series without Levine's touch, though we got exactly that with BioShock 2, which has become a dark horse favorite in some circles of the fandom. I imagine Levine himself is too taken up with Judas these days to worry much about BioShock in any case.

But as for BioShock 4, that internal shakeup suggests it might still be a long, long time before we actually see it in action. Personally, I'm considering taking up bets on whether it, The Elder Scrolls 6, or the heat death of the universe will land first.

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