It’s been 12 years since the last Bioshock game and five years since 2K founded a brand new studio called Cloud Chamber to develop a new entry in the beloved shooter franchise. However, it sounds like we’re going to be waiting a bit longer for whatever the fourth Bioshock game ends up being, as a new report from Bloomberg indicates that Cloud Chamber has hit a snag in development, resulting in a leadership shake-up.
The story says that the next Bioshock “failed a review by executives” at publisher 2K Games. According to Bloomberg‘s sources, the game’s narrative was a sore spot in the internal evaluation and is now being revamped. Cloud Chamber studio head Kelley Gilmore has reportedly been removed from her position, and Bioshock creative director Hogarth de la Plante has been moved to a publishing role. Developers at the studio are worried that broader layoffs may follow after they were told in an all-hands meeting that Cloud Chamber needs to be “more agile and efficient.” A 2K representative told Bloomberg that the publisher believes the next Bioshock is already “a good game” but it is “committed to delivering a great one.”
Buried at the very end of the Bloomberg story is confirmation that 2K was also working on a Bioshock remake, but that has since been shelved.
The Bioshock series has been MIA for over a decade, with the last game in the series being Bioshock Infinite in 2013. It was followed by a two-part DLC called Burial at Sea, which bridges the gap between Infinite’s airborne world of Columbia and the underwater city of Rapture from the first two games. Ken Levine, the original game’s lead, went on to found Ghost Story Games and is working on Judas, which sure looks like a spiritual successor to Bioshock.
