It is also worth noting that there are no details about what part of the BioShock franchise will be the focus of this announcement. Cloud Chamber Games has been working on a new mainline title in the franchise, but the studio has largely been quiet about its progress since last year. There is also a movie based on the franchise in production by Netflix which could end up being the subject of 2K’s announcement.

According to Mp1st, the city of Rapture – the primary setting for BioShock and BioShock 2 – will be an important part of whatever 2K plans to announce. While this could mean that BioShock 4 will seemingly take us back to the underwater city, it is also just as likely to be part of an unannounced remake or remaster project.

Back in July 2024, a screenshot for BioShock 4 was seemingly leaked online. Credited to an anonymous visual effects artist working at 2K, the screenshot didn’t really reveal any major details about the game aside from a look at what appears to be the early stages of the game’s UI, a weapon, and a lamp that seems to be based on the same Art Deco design style that informs much of the architecture in the city of Rapture.

As for what we can glean about gameplay from the screenshot, it looks like players might be able to carry around 3 weapons, with one UI element also suggesting that up to three abilities can be used with different combinations of a controller’s shoulder buttons. The screenshot also features the player using the Ricochet Shotgun.

The senior cinematic designer at 2K, Jeff Spoonhower, also revealed through a LinkedIn post that Cloud Chamber Games was “ramping up” development on BioShock 4, and that it was recruiting more developers to work on the game across a range of divisions.

Older rumours from all the way back in 2021 have indicated that BioShock 4 might ultimately end up being titled BioShock Isolation. While these rumours are best taken with a pinch of salt, this title would indicate that the upcoming game might lean harder on the horror side of things than the action side. Rumours from around the same time have also indicated that the game will take place in the 1960s, with an Antarctic city serving as its primary setting.

Back in 2022, former senior writer for Ghost of Tsushima – Liz Albl – had joined Cloud Chamber Games, taking on the role of narrative lead for BioShock 4. Albl has previously worked on the writing teams for several major titles, including Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Far Cry 5, and Watch Dogs: Legion. She had also spent some time working on the Wonder Woman game at Monolith before the studio was shuttered.

Mass Effect 2

The opening of Mass Effect 2 is as climactic as most other games’ endings. This sequel begins with the player controlling a limping Commander Shepard crawling through the carnage and destruction of an all-too familiar locale from the first game; the Normandy ship. What follows is a complete breakdown of everything we built up in the first game. What’s more, Shepard has to work with a mysterious group, Cerberus, to get back what was lost and fight the Reaper threat. Mass Effect 2 feels like The Empire Strikes Back of video games with how high the stakes have been raised and how dire things have gotten.

Interestingly, Levine considers BioShock to be more of a “corridor” from a development standpoint. “BioShock, if you look at it from a development standpoint – and this may be a bit alienating to some readers – but it’s basically a corridor.

“A very, very long corridor with a bunch of trigger points that make story elements happen. Judas is made very, very differently and that makes it much more hopefully reflective of players’ agency, but also much, much harder to make.”

Judas will seemingly differ by observing players and commenting on their actions at points. “Even just characters observing a long range of player action and commenting on it. ‘Hey, you saw this, and you did that, and then you did this, and that was interesting because that caused that’ – we’re doing that kinda stuff right now.”

Naturally, it’s a “huge amount of work” when considering all the potential decisions. There’s also having to write “in-character responses for different characters to those actions in a way that feels organic.”

Judas is in development for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Set in a spaceship, the story focuses on the titular protagonist’s attempt to escape. Of course, circumstances can change depending on your actions, especially when attempting to work alongside other crew members. Head here for more details.

Though it doesn’t have a release date, parent company Take-Two Interactive said it’s expected to launch by March 2025. Stay tuned for updates.

Inside

Combining atmospheric story-telling with clever puzzles, a stark aesthetic, and impeccable pacing, Playdead’s Inside presented one of the best side-scrolling adventure titles of all time. It’s saying something when a title of this caliber launched more than eight years ago, and nothing else in the genre has come close to matching up.

Black

Criterion Games might be best known for its work on the Need for Speed series, but its 2006 release Black also deserves a fair amount of appreciation. Despite being a far cry from what the developer was used to, Black was a compelling first-person shooter with some of the best visuals of its time. The story might not be something to write home about, but a solid set of shooting mechanics and thrilling firefights make Black a noteworthy game nevertheless – and it holds surprisingly well to this date.

MP1st claims to have got their hands on a screenshot of BioShock 4, which they says they got from an anonymous 2K visual effects artist. The bottom of the image mentions the name “Parkside“, which prior reports have suggested is the codename the game is in development under. Allegedly, the image is from a 2021 demo build of the game that was featured in an internal showcase reel, and showcases the player holding a weapon called the Ricochet Shotgun.

The UI in the screenshot suggests that the player can carry a total of three weapons, with symbols on the bottom left seemingly representing abilities, presumably running on cooldowns, rather than the Plasma an Vigor meters seen in prior BioShock titles. Hourglass and stopwatch symbols on the UI also seem to suggest that the player will have access to time-based abilities.

It’s worth keeping in mind, of course, that if this image is indeed from an early build of the game from roughly three years ago, there’s a good chance that a lot will have changed since then.

Prior reports have suggested that BioShock 4 (or whatever it ends up being called) is going to be set in an Antarctic city in the 1960s called Borealis. Earlier this month, Cloud Chamber Games said development on the title was “ramping up”, with the studio looking to recruit in a number of positions. Read more on that through here.

Jeff Spoonhower, who is a senior cinematic designer at 2K and is working on the next BioShock, has said in a LinkedIn post that the team at Cloud Chamber is “ramping up” and is looking to hire people across a number of disciplines, from art and design to production and more.

Meanwhile, on its own official website, the studio says it is “currently recruiting like mad” for its San Francisco and Montreal offices, with a total of 30 roles currently open for application.

Details on BioShock 4 (or whatever it ends up being called) are scant, with 2K having said back in 2020 that the game would be in development for “several” more years, but past job listings have indicated some information. The title, in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, could seemingly feature an open world setting and dialogue choices, and is being built on Unreal Engine 5.

Liz Albl recently took to Twitter and confirmed that she has joined Cloud Chamber Games as Narrative Lead on BioShock 4 (or whatever it ends up being called).

Albl has been involved in writing teams on a number of major projects over the years. According to her LinkedIn page, after starting out as a writing intern on Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, she was a writer on a number of other Ubisoft titles, including Far Cry 5 and Watch Dogs: Legion, following which she moved to Sucker Punch to serve as a senior writer on Ghost of Tsushima. Most recently, Albl was at Monolith Productions, where she worked on the upcoming Wonder Woman game for a period of nearly two years.

Details on BioShock 4 have been scant since it was officially announced in late 2019 that the game was in development. As per recent leaks, it will be set in a fictional 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis, while job listings have also suggested that the game is being developed using Unreal Engine 5.

Job listings have hinted at other details for the first person shooter as well, such as a potential open world setting, highly reactive environments, dialogue choices, and more.

The dream is real! So happy to announce I've joined Cloud Chamber as Narrative Lead on BIOSHOCK ⚡ pic.twitter.com/tdNfvar7x2

— Liz Albl (@mslizalbl) December 7, 2022

Over on Twitter, leaker @oopsleaks, who claimed in a previous leak that the game would be called BioShock Isolation, recently claimed that the long-awaited sequel’s development has run into some hurdles. Cloud Chamber has allegedly lost 40 developers, which includes leaks as well, some of whom left the studio of their own accord, while others were allegedly fired “for various reasons”.

The leaker claims that 2K Games is unhappy with the progress the project has made and the pace at which its development is moving along, which has brought about a “slight restructuring” at Cloud Chamber. The studio has apparently also started hiring new employees, and though the game is still scheduled to launch be the end of 2024, it’s announcement date has seemingly been pushed back.

As always with leaks of an unverified nature, it’s best to take this with a grain of salt for now, especially seeing as 2K Games and Cloud Chamber themselves have said next to nothing about BioShock 4 – or whatever it ends up being called – since having confirmed that it’s in development. We’ll keep an eye out for more details though, so stay tuned.

I’ve been told that some left on their own, some were fired for various reasons, nevertheless it’s not a ‘development hell’ but rather a ‘slight restructuring’. The studio has already started hiring new employees. It is likely that the announcement date may shift for this reason.

— Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks) February 15, 2022

In a recent Sacred Symbols video uploaded by journalist Colin Moriarty, it’s been claimed that BioShock 4 will take place in a fictional 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis. In its own report, VGC corroborates this detail, stating that it has heard the same from its own sources.

Moriarty also states that the development team at Cloud Chamber is well aware that the game will be compared to previous BioShock games and, more specifically, the works of series creator Ken Levine, suggesting that the developers are designing an experience very much in the same vein. Moriarty also claims that BioShock 4 is currently targeting a 2022 launch.

Another recent leak claimed that BioShock 4 will be called BioShock Isolation and will feature setting and story will revolve around two new cities, one on top of each other, with an announcement planned for sometime in 2022. Read more on that through here.

Previous job listings have also revealed potential new details on the next BioShock game. It seems to be using Unreal Engine 5 for its development, while listings have also made mention of an open world setting, the game taking place in a “new and fantastical world”, and a dialogue system, emergent AI systems, and more.