BioShock 4 in Development Hell, 2K Responds to Troubling Report

A new report has claimed that the next game in the BioShock franchise, which many fans have simply dubbed BioShock 4, is in trouble. Back in 2019, 2K Games announced that it had established studio Cloud Chamber, which would be used to create a new BioShock entry. Since the time of that announcement, though, news on BioShock 4 has been nowhere to be found, which has left fans wondering about its status. Now, we seem to have a better idea about what’s happening behind the scenes with the new BioShock game, and it doesn’t sound positive.

Based on reporting from Bloomberg, BioShock 4 recently failed an internal review at 2K Games. Those overseeing the project were said to be unhappy with its current state and specifically took issue with its narrative. As a result, managerial shakeups are now said to be happening at Cloud Chamber to get BioShock 4 back on track. Others at the company have expressed fear that layoffs could follow, although this doesn’t seem to be the case just yet.

2K itself confirmed that this leadership change for BioShock 4 was indeed happening while also stressing that it’s trying to make a game that “exceeds the lofty expectations of our fans.”

“We are working hard to set BioShock up for the best possible future,” a representative from 2K Games said in response to the report. “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.”

At this point, it has been well over a decade since the last BioShock game, BioShock Infinite, was released. In the interim, former BioShock and BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games has gone on to rebrand as Ghost Story Games and is working on Judas, which has close ties to many of the same mechanics and systems seen in the BioShock series. Judas remains without a release date, which suggests that it, too, could be in some turmoil.

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Cloud Chamber is only the latest Western video game developer that is struggling to get off the ground and deliver its first game. This year alone, Microsoft shuttered The Initiative, which was working on a reboot of Perfect Dark, while EA shut down Cliffhanger Games, the studio behind a planned Black Panther game. Whether or not Cloud Chamber can bounce back from this bump in the road with BioShock 4 remains to be seen.