BioShock 4 is currently undergoing a bit of a development overhaul after it recently failed a review by 2K Games executives, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Per the report, the new BioShock game, which has been in development for the last decade, was criticized by executives especially for issues with its narrative. The studio will allegedly work to overhaul the story in the coming months.
BioShock 4’s struggles have also apparently resulted in the removal of Cloud Chamber Games studio head Kelley Gilmore, and the shifting of creative director Hogarth de la Plante into a publishing role. Employees were told in a recent all-hands that the company needs to become, per Bloomberg, “more agile and efficient,” which has some workers afraid layoffs may be on the horizon.
2K Games confirmed Gilmore and de la Plante’s role changes to Bloomberg, and shared the following statement:
We are working hard to set BioShock up for the best possible future. 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.
We first heard reports that BioShock 4 was in development way back in 2018, when it was still apparently pretty early in the process. The following year it was officially confirmed to be in development at new studio Cloud Chamber, but IGN was told at the time that the team was at “the earlier end of our process.” It was also confirmed that original BioShock creative director Ken Levine was not working on the game, but was instead focusing on his own project, Judas, at Ghost Story Games (it’s due. However, a number of other BioShock veterans were said to be working on it, including de la Plante, art director Scott Sinclair, and design director Jonathan Pelling.
In the years since, we’ve gleaned very little in the way of details on BioShock 4. From job listings, we’ve put together that it won’t take place in any of the settings from previous games, and that it may be open-world. In 2022, it picked up former Ghost of Tsushima writer Liz Albl as a narrative lead. And last year, an image that may have come from the in-progress new BioShock leaked online, though it was allegedly from an early 2021 demo of the game.
Given that we have yet to see gameplay or hear even a whisper of a release window, it may still be a while yet before BioShock 4 fully emerges. In the meantime, while Levine’s Judas was at one point expected to be out by March 2025, that deadline has come and gone. But we got a preview of the game last March, so it may have to serve to tide over fans until BioShock 4 is ready to emerge once more.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
