A new report suggests 2K shelved a BioShock remake earlier this year, and that the publisher ordered a major shakeup in the development of BioShock 4. 2K has confirmed the latter part of the report, and it seems we might still be a long, long way off from seeing a new entry in the beloved series.
The fourth entry in the BioShock series, which has not yet been given a proper title, was announced in 2019. Developed by the then newly-founded Cloud Chamber, the game has very few details revealed, even as the years dragged on from its initial announcement.
Among notable people involved were studio head Kelley Gilmore, a former executive producer and marketing director on an array of Firaxis games, including XCOM and several Civilization titles, as well as creative director Hogarth de la Plante, a veteran BioShock dev going back to his time as an environment artist and level architect on the original game.
Gilmore has been "ousted" by 2K with de la Plante moved to a publishing role, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. The report says this follows a failed internal review of the game, where "the game's narrative was identified as an area that was particularly in need of improvement and will be revamped in the coming months."
"We are working hard to set BioShock up for the best possible future," 2K said in a statement to Bloomberg, while also confirming the leadership change. "Right now, we have a good game, but we are committed to delivering a great one. We are working closely with leadership at the studio to define this path."
The report also says that a remake of the original BioShock was in development at 2K, but "was shelved earlier this year." We've reached out to 2K for additional comment, and will update if we learn more.
There hasn't been a new BioShock game since the launch of BioShock Infinite back in 2013. Irrational Games, which developed the original title and Infinite, shut down in 2014, with a handful of developers moving to director Ken Levine's new studio under 2K, Ghost Story Games, a few years later. The studio's first game, Judas, very much looks like a spiritual successor to BioShock, but we still don't have a clear idea of when it will launch either.
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