Over 4 years since its announcement, BioShock 4 studio is "ramping up" as dev teases its "really awesome project"

Bioshock Infinite — (Image credit: Irrational)

We may have heard next to no information about the next BioShock game since its announcement back in 2019, but rest assured that it's still happening, and the team at developer 2K Cloud Chamber is now "ramping up" with 30 new positions at the studio.

BioShock 4 doesn't have an officially announced name, premise, or even vague release window – it's been quite a mystery since its initial confirmation. What we do know is that Irrational Games – the team that made the series' previous three installments – isn't making this one. Irrational Games was rebranded as Ghost Story Games back in 2017, still led by founder Ken Levine, and is currently working on the BioShock-like first-person shooter, Judas. Meanwhile, 2K Cloud Chamber is new to the series (although there are veteran BioShock devs on the team), but it sounds like things are definitely cooking behind the scenes.

Last week, 2K Cloud Chamber senior cinematic designer Jeff Spoonhower took to LinkedIn to advertise a selection of new roles which have opened up, noting: "The BioShock team at 2K Cloud Chamber is ramping up! We have many positions open across a variety of disciplines including art, animation, engineering, design, narrative, and production."

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Spoonhower teases that the team is "working on a really awesome project," which is admittedly vague, but it's nice to hear one of the devs be so optimistic, especially one who's credited on both BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite.

For the time being, we'll just have to watch this space. Even if there's been very little official information revealed about the next BioShock, there've been quite a few rumors – it was claimed back in 2021 that it might be set in a fictional Antarctic city in the 1960s, for example. Either way, we do know that 2K Cloud Chamber is looking to "push the boundaries of what is possible in the video game medium," suggesting that there are very high hopes for what the next installment in the series can achieve.

Judas is taking inspiration from XCOM and Civilization to turn BioShock into a "pseudo-procedural" take on single-player narrative games.

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.