Liz Albl, the new BioShock game’s narrative lead, has now joined Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red.
The move follows 2K’s recent decision to “rework” development of its long-gestating BioShock 4 project, which has been in development now since at least 2018.
Albl joined Cloud Chamber, 2K’s secretive studio tasked with building a fresh BioShock chapter, back in 2022. Now, an update on LinkedIn makes clear that the former narrative boss departed the company back in August — at the time 2K indicated it was unhappy with progress and announced layoffs.
“Work on the next BioShock game has been underway for several years,” noted an email to Cloud Chamber staff sent at the time by 2K president David Ismailer, and obtained by IGN. “While we’re excited about the foundational gameplay elements of the project, we’ve made the decision with studio leadership to rework certain aspects that are core to a BioShock game, and in doing so are reducing the size of the development team to focus on this work and give the game more time in development.”
A Bloomberg report confirmed that Cloud Chamber Games studio head Kelley Gilmore had been removed, amid other layoffs, while creative director Hogarth de la Plante had been shuffled into a publishing role.
The timing of Albl’s departure from the studio in August also makes sense, then, and it was reported at the time that 2K Games had been particularly critical of issues with the game’s narrative. BioShock 4’s story is now expected to be overhauled, and development will be overseen by former Gears of War head and Diablo franchise lead Rod Fergusson, who 2K has installed as the new overall boss of both Cloud Chamber and the BioShock franchise.
Prior to Cloud Chamber, Albl had served two years at Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor studio Monolith Productions working on Warner Bros.’ now-cancelled Wonder Woman game. Prior to that, Albl had worked for several years at PlayStation’s Sucker Punch studio writing Ghost of Tsushima, and at Ubisoft working on the Far Cry and Watch Dogs franchises.
Little is known about the next BioShock game, though sporadic hints from job descriptions and other possible leaks have suggested it will be set in a brand new location, and feature open world elements. When IGN last asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick about the game’s progress, he reassured that BioShock 4 was “going to come out” for certain, but could not say when.
As for BioShock’s original creator Ken Levine, there’s little new word on his own long-awaited next project — the BioShock-esque Judas. Despite previously being expected by March 2025, we’ve not had a fresh update now in a little while.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
