BioShock is one of the most critically revered gaming franchises of the modern era, though since the DLC for BioShock: Infinite wrapped up, there’s been no new developments in years. We’ve heard whispers that something might be in the works, with a news story from Kotaku mentioning that the franchise may yet see signs of life, but absent of any follow-up, many chalked it up to just rumor.
Well, that rumor has now become truth, as publisher 2K have announced that developers Cloud Chamber are officially working on a new BioShock. For those who don’t know, Cloud Chamber is a relatively new studio, but one that has some decent talent attached to it.
Leading it is Kelley Gilmore of Firaxis, who explained the following:
“We founded Cloud Chamber to create yet-to-be-discovered worlds – and their stories within – that push the boundaries of what is possible in the video game medium. Our team believes in the beauty and strength of diversity, in both the makeup of the studio and the nature of its thinking. We are a deeply experienced group of game makers, including many responsible for BioShock’s principal creation, advancement and longstanding notoriety, and honoured to be part of the 2K family as stewards of this iconic franchise.”
Notably absent from the announcement is BioShock creator Ken Levine. This may be because the development of BioShock: Infinite was notoriously difficult, with many false starts thrown by the wayside, which resulted in the closure of Infinite dev studio Irrational Games and Levine deciding to focus on smaller games (though he has not released anything since 2013).
Then again, his lack of involvement might not be such a hindrance. While Infinite launched to great fanfare and excellent reviews, its reputation has become tarnished over the years due in part to its ridiculous ‘both sides are bad’ take on racism and slavery.
Hopefully this time, as in the original BioShock, Cloud Chamber can not only work with some heavy political themes but actually say something of note about them.