When Bioshock came out in 2007, it blew expectations out of the water. Not only did it introduce us to the memorable world of Rapture deep below the sea, but it pulled off one of the most shocking plot twists in gaming history. The sequel stuck to the same setting, but Infinite once again invited us to a brand new dystopia floating in the clouds. Similar to Assassin’s Creed, these games have become defined by their settings, which is why we have all been eagerly awaiting the next entry to see what fantastic space we would be exploring. While original creator Ken Levine has moved on to Judas, 2K has had Cloud Chamber Studios working on a new entry since 2019. That’s a long time, but we still have a lot of questions that need answering. Would you kindly explore everything we know about Bioshock 4 with us?
Release date speculation
Neither 2K nor Cloud Chamber has committed to a release date for Bioshock 4. The latest unofficial update was spotted on LinkedIn by GamesRadar. Senior cinematic designer Jeff Spoonhower posted the follwoing: “The Bioshock team at 2K Cloud Chamber is ramping up! We have many positions open across a variety of disciplines including art, animation, engineering, design, narrative, and production.”
This implies the game was only in a preproduction stage up until this point, so we probably have to wait another two to three years before Bioshock 4 is fully complete.
Platforms
Based on the game entering a full production cycle in 2024, we feel it is safe to say that Bioshock 4 will be a current-gen exclusive, meaning PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Leaks and rumors
No official trailers or screenshots of Bioshock 4 have been released to tease our appetites. However, one leaked screenshot has appeared online that appears to show a build of the game, and it features a weapon, UI elements, and some sort of glowing tower. MP1st, who obtained the image, claims it comes from a visual effects artist at 2K who took it from a 2021 demo build. If true, there is a good chance a lot of elements have changed.
Even prior to this leaked shot, there were two strong rumors regarding Bioshock 4‘s setting. The most substantial is that the game will take place in a 1960s-era city in Antarctica called Borealis. Not much else was mentioned here except that the game would somehow connect the prior games in the series.
Another bit of speculation suggests the game will be, or at least at one time was planned to be, open world. This comes from yet another job posting spotted by PCGamesN that, at the time, called for “someone who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting.” This would be a big departure from the linear structure the series has stuck to thus far.
Gameplay speculation
The one constant element between the Bioshock games has been its gameplay. While there will certainly be new additions and mechanics, we suspect the core of Bioshock 4 to focus on first-person shooting and powers. What form these powers take, and how they are justified in that setting, remains to be seen.
Bioshock has also stuck to a linear structure with some occasional backtracking. If the leak about Bioshock 4 being open world is true, we suspect that means the entire city — whatever it ends up being — will be fully explorable from the start and not sectioned off as much. Our guess is that it will resemble the structure of something like Prey rather than attempt to be a massive sprawling game.
Preorder
Bioshock 4 is still heavily under wraps and likely won’t be ready for another couple of years. As soon as 2K and Cloud Chamber are ready to give us a release date and preorder info, we will keep you updated.