Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick affirmed that BioShock 4 will be released while providing an update on the game’s current status and the vision behind it.
In an interview with IGN, Zelnick promised the outlet, “It’s going to come out. That I can say hand on heart, without question.”
As for where the game currently stands and the vision behind it, he shared, “We don’t talk about how long our development cycles are. We have had some ups and downs along the way. That is accurate. And we have had changes in studio leadership.”
“That said, we have very big shoes to fill on BioShock because of the legacy of Ken Levine, the legacy of what has gone before, which has been so successful,” he said. “And we need to make sure that this experience is true to the BioShock DNA on the one hand, and a massive step forward on the other hand. That’s always challenging. We think we’re up to the challenge, but it has not been seamless.”
BioShock 4 was announced back in December 2019. In a press release at the time 2K Games not only announced the game, but that the newly formed Cloud Chamber would be developing it, “2K announced that Cloud Chamber has started to work on the next iteration of the globally acclaimed BioShock® franchise, which will be in development for the next several years.”
2K President David Ismailer said, “BioShock is one of the most beloved, critically praised and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation. We can’t wait to see where its powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay head in the future with our new studio team at Cloud Chamber leading the charge.”"
In August, Jason Schreier at Bloomberg indicated the game was undergoing an internal overhaul while Cloud Chamber laid off around 80 people in its California and Montreal offices. An internal email from Ismailer explaining the layoffs stated, “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.”
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These production timelines are both unsustainable and ludicrous. Look at the original trilogy.
BioShock q3 2007
BioShock 2 q1 2010
BioShock Infinite q1 2013
All 3 came out in one generation and in less time than the known/future development time of BS4, likely about 2/3's the total time when it's all said and done.
Since there's no release date now, it's safe to say 2026 is out, so 2027 at the earliest, and it'll then be on the PS6 having skipped TWO console generations!
How did we even get to this point? Who the hell is financing decade plus development cycles? It's insanity and nowhere near necessary.
If a handful of unpaid modders can create game length mods for new content (Fallout London for example) what's the effing excuse here for these developers?
Money attracts leeches. As long as you can string along "investors" you can keep the grift going.