BioShock fans have finally received a small BioShock 4 update (or whatever the next game is called) after a lengthy silence. It was in 2019 that 2K announced the establishment of new studio, Cloud Chamber, to take the series forward. And it looks like the developer is finally ramping up production.

BioShock 4 dev team is bulking up

As spotted by folks at Wccftech, Cloud Chamber has opened up a large number of job vacancies. Over on LinkedIn, senior cinematic designer Jeff Spoonhower stated that the vacancies are specifically for the BioShock team.

“The BioShock team at 2K Cloud Chamber is ramping up!” Spoonhower wrote. “We have many positions open across a variety of disciplines including art, animation, engineering, design, narrative, and production. We are working on a really awesome project, and our studio is remote-friendly.”

There are 30 job opportunities available, including critical roles like senior writer, executive producer, and producer.

While this is great news for those worried about the project, given the number of vacancies and nature of the roles, it looks like BioShock 4 has either yet to enter production or is in very early stages of development. We won’t be surprised if the game releases on the PS6.

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When Netflix announced a new movie adaptation of the BioShock franchise, 2K also chimed in that Cloud Chamber, the developer behind the upcoming BioShock game, was looking for more staff. There’s a reason for that according to the latest rumors. Apparently Cloud Chamber has lost as many as 40 staff members since the project started and this could potentially delay the new game to 2024.

When will BioShock 4 be released?

According to their latest financial results, Take-Two Interactive still expects BioShock 4 to be released before the end of 2024. Many people were expecting the game to be announced during the first quarter of this year, so before the end of March. It would then have been released this year too, but the rumors that have originated from renowned leaker Oops Leaks on Twitter (thanks ComicBook) suggest that date might have slipped.

Since the start of the game’s development, Cloud Chamber has apparently lost 40 members of staff, including those in lead roles. Some apparently resigned while others were “fired for various reasons”. Regardless, the new recruitment drive is part of a “slight restructuring”. The leaker also claimed 2K “is not satisfied with the project’s results and pace”. Despite both of these issues, he also emphasized the game is not in development hell. As usual, all of this should be treated as a rumor and taken with a hefty dose of salt seeing as neither Cloud Chamber, 2K, nor Take-Two Interactive have corroborated any of this information.

In other news, a HBO executive has confirmed their upcoming The Last of Us TV show won’t be aired until 2023. The show won’t hit screens in 2022 as filming is still ongoing on set in Canada. Elsewhere, one of the reasons given for Battlefield 2042’s lack of success was the surprise release of Halo: Infinite’s multiplayer modes, because this highlighted the game’s faults even more.

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Netflix has announced they’re making a BioShock movie in partnership with 2K and Take-Two Interactive. No other details have been revealed about the movie, but there’s always a chance it will be completed in time to release alongside the new BioShock title in development at Cloud Chamber.

Where will the BioShock movie be set?

The movie will be based on the BioShock franchise rather than a specific game. Whether this means it will venture into Rapture, Columbia, or the “new and fantastical world” in which the next BioShock game will be set (rumored to be a 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis) remains to be seen. However, the announcement did also include an image of Big Daddy in Rapture, so make of that what you will.

Netflix, 2K and Take-Two Interactive are partnering to produce a film adaptation of the renowned video game franchise BioShock.

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) February 15, 2022

Cloud Chamber remains hard at work on the new BioShock game and are recruiting for several positions as a result. Perhaps learning from the past where their previous listings have given away a few details about the game, we’ve learny very little that is new. The game will be developed on Unreal Engine 5 and we already knew it will feature a “richly interactive world that feels inhabited and genuine” complete with a “meaningful AI urban crowd system”. However, a new listing suggests at least some of those AI will be friendly and will give out side quests, as the Senior AI Systems Designer is responsible for “non-combat AI behaviors that result in engaging emergent gameplay stories for the player”.

The customary BioShock experience seems like it will feature strongly in the new open world game as it is based on a “stunning narrative and systems-driven experience”. While first-person shooter gameplay with weapons and special powers is also involved, players will be encouraged to experiment and find other ways to solve situations. The game is expected to be announced and perhaps even released later this year, so hopefully we’ll hear more soon.

In other news, rumors have started that Avalanche Studios may be developing Mad Max 2. Elsewhere, Cyberpunk 2077 has released for PS5 today. It comes with a demo that allows players to try the game for five hours before they buy, but the trial is only available until the middle of March.

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Folks over at Video Games Chronicle and Sacred Symbols podcast host Colin Moriarty have lent some credence to recent reports of BioShock 4, which is in development at Cloud Chamber.

As previously reported, the upcoming BioShock will be set in a “new-to-franchise, isolated, dystopian city.” According to both Moriarty and VGC’s sources, the setting will be a 1960s fictional Antarctic city. Story-wise, the game will be tied to the previous three entries.

“It takes place in a 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis,” Moriarty said in a podcast for his Patreon subscribers, per VGC. “[The game is] code named ‘Parkside’… I’ve been told that the development team has incredible latitude to get it right. That seems and sounds right to me.”

Worth noting that last week’s report claimed that BioShock 4 is tentatively titled BioShock Isolation, but the leaker did say that this is subject to change. It’s possible that Parkside is just the code name whereas Isolation is what it’ll end up being called at retail. Or maybe it’ll be titled something entirely different altogether. You get the picture.

“Internally, the game is very secret and apparently, totally locked up,” Moriarty continued. “Apparently the inclination there is that they understand full well that this game will be compared to what [BioShock creator] Ken Levine does. And by the way, [Take-Two] is also publishing Levine’s next game.”

If Moriarty’s report is accurate, BioShock 4 will release sometime in 2022. The game’s existence was confirmed back in 2019, but while a current-gen release is all but confirmed, it remains to be seen if the game will land on the PS4 and Xbox One or not.

[Source: VGC]

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Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a random Twitter account called Oops Leaks published a series of tweets about the next BioShock game, revealing new information. While our first instinct was to dismiss the rumor picked up by ResetEra users, the Twitter user ended up publishing what looks like slides from an internal presentation pertaining to “BioShock Isolation.” And, well, we’re starved for information so this is worth sharing.

If Oops Leaks is to be believed, the upcoming title is tentatively called BioShock Isolation, and it’s set in a “new-to-franchise, isolated, dystopian city.” The game is being made in Unreal Engine 5 and its development team includes former Irrational Games developers, as well as industry veterans behind titles like Watch Dogs: Legion, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Mafia III, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

While Oops Leaks’ original tweet claimed that an announcement is coming in Q1 2022, they have since retweeted The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley’s recent tweet in which he revealed that one of the world premieres from the upcoming event has been in the works for 2.5 years. And it just so happens that Take-Two Interactive confirmed the existence of a new BioShock game back in 2019. But that’s not all. The infamous GeForce Now database leak, which has been accurate thus far, included “BioShock 2022” in its list.

Anyway, Oops Leaks has since published an entire thread to shed more light on the rumor, so take a look and make of it what you will.

Since this has all gone viral, I want to remind you that since all of these screenshots are from 2019, the information there may be outdated. To avoid confusion, I will clarify some of the nuances.

— Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks) November 29, 2021

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Cloud Chamber is leading development on the next game in the BioShock series (colloquially, but unofficially referred to as BioShock 4). A series of job listings for positions at Cloud Chamber have started to paint a picture for what the next game in the BioShock universe will entail. One of the biggest of those reveals is that BioShock 4 is set to be an open-world game in some regard, more so than the twisted underwater passageways of Rapture or the airy streets of Columbia.

We’ve known for some time (again, thanks to job listings) that BioShock 4 would shrug off both Rapture and Columbia in favor of a “new and fantastical world,” but additional details have been sparse. This latest job listing for a Senior Writer specifically says “We’re hoping to find someone who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting.”

In addition, the other job listings provide some tantalizing details about BioShock 4.

Story will still be told entirely from a first-person perspective with “fully interactive set-pieces.” They are looking for a cinematic designer, which says “We are looking for an artist who can masterfully create the narrative first-person moments that exist along a continuum of fully interactive set-pieces in our game.”

The listing for a Game Designer for Weapons says the role will “take ownership of the design process for player weapons and signature powers,” revealing that BioShock 4 will once again be a combination of weapons and powers.

The open-world will be “living,” according to the listing for a Senior World Designer. “Combine hand-crafted set-pieces with emerging AI behavior to create a ‘living’ world that offers players variety at every step of the game.”

And the listing for an AI Programmer talks about pushing the limits of AI interactions in games. “We have high ambitions for tying AI and storytelling together and it will be your responsibility to crystalize that ambition around several AI systems. You will be in close collaboration with Design leadership to flesh out the designs and finalize the implementations for an urban crowd system and the systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI. You will lead the engineering side of those objectives. You will also be expected to help push our conception of what is possible in this arena doing as much to advance the ambition as you will attempt to build it.”

In addition, this listing talks about “a meaningful AI urban crowd system,” and “systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI,” and that the role will “help to push the envelope of what is possible with interactive crowd systems.”

It’s important to note that development scope can change, and the listings don’t necessarily refer to final features that will make it into the game. For now these are simply hints at the direction Cloud Chamber is aiming to take the next BioShock game, but we won’t know more for certain until it’s revealed.

[Source: Cloud Chamber; Via: PCGamesN, VGC]

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After years of rumor and speculation, 2K Games finally announced its plans for the future of BioShock late last year. To revitalize the beloved franchise, the publisher opened Cloud Chamber. Details about the project are presently scarce, and fans won’t step foot in another lighthouse for quite a long time. However, a new job listing suggests the direction Cloud Chamber may take the series in. Apparently, said direction involves the creation of a “new and fantastical world.”

DSOGaming spotted several job postings for Cloud Chamber online, a number of which make note of a new world. For instance, a blurb under the “What You Will Do” section for the Senior Cinematic Animator position reads: “We want you to help us breathe life into a new and fantastical world.” Postings for the Senior Gameplay/AI Animator and Lead Environment Modeler feature similar wording.

Other job listings mention a few more intriguing pieces of information. The Senior Cinematic Artist posting, for example, notes the fourth entry boasts “a team of storied BioShock veterans,” alongside newcomers who are fans of the series. It also seems Cloud Chamber will continue BioShock’s tradition of seamlessly flowing between cinematic scenes and gameplay. “In BioShock, narrative moments blend seamlessly and dramatically into captivating gameplay scenarios,” another blurb reads.

Finally, this same posting asks that a Cinematic Artist bring Wes Anderson-like “precision and panache” to camera positioning and movements. This seems a tall order considering Anderson’s acclaim as a director, which earned him a Best Achievement in Directing nomination at the 2015 Oscars for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Suffice it to say, the next BioShock, regardless of its setting, could prove quite ambitious.

[Source: Cloud Chamber via DSOGaming]

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2K Games finally announced a new BioShock entry last month and although the game has been in development for at least two years, the publisher refrained from spilling any details. However, job listings published by the newly-formed Cloud Chamber studio drop some hints about what we can expect from the upcoming BioShock‘s world.

The job description for Lead World Designer states that Cloud Chamber wants to develop a world that players are “hungry to explore.”

You love sitting at the nexus of story, architecture and design. You love games that create a symbiosis between them, and you’re motivated by the idea of creating resonant, emotional experiences through gameplay. You care about building a richly interactive world that feels inhabited and genuine. You have a deep understanding of how to create a compelling systemic environment that players are hungry to explore. And you see the player as a partner or co-author, not a pawn.

Then, the listing for Lead Combat Designer talks about a “highly reactive world” that accommodates various play styles. The description reads:

Develop an FPS combat paradigm that is accessible, satisfying, and allows for a high degree of player expression and experimentation within a highly reactive world. Look beyond direct conflict, accommodate various play-styles and design encounters that can be resolved through player ingenuity.

Finally, the job description for Senior AI Engineer mentions an “urban crowd system and the systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI.”

We have high ambitions for tying AI and storytelling together and it will be your responsibility to crystalize that ambition around several AI systems. You will be in close collaboration with Design leadership to flush out the designs and finalize the implementations for an urban crowd system and the systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI.

All sounds good on paper. Here’s hoping the execution is robust!

[Source: Cloud Chamber via GamesRadar]

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After roughly six years of silence, today 2K Games finally unveiled its plans for the future of BioShock. That future, led by the newly formed Cloud Chamber, seems bright. This new California and Québec-based team is apparently just now beginning production on the next BioShock installment. However, there’s supposedly more to the story. In addition to reports suggesting Cloud Chamber has existed in some form since 2018, another claim alleges 2K’s had a BioShock project in the works since at least 2015.

In 2015, according to Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, the Texas-based team Certain Affinity began early development on what was to become BioShock 4. Codenamed Parkside, this new project set in the rich world(s) of BioShock would’ve been a boon for Certain Affinity. Prior to this, the studio notably provided development support for the likes of Call of Duty and 2016’s DOOM. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out. Schreier says four sources close to the matter told him 2K pulled the plug on Parkside near 2016’s end. Specifics aren’t known, but 2K ultimately chose not to outsource the series, deciding instead to rely on a team in-house.

By 2017, 2K formed a new studio in Novato, California. This burgeoning squad, which at the time remained unknown to the public, began recruiting developers from Hangar 13, the Mafia III team. Seemingly, Parkside continued to serve as the fourth BioShock’s codename. The project itself, however, “entered early pre-production” and began anew.

Why 2K is just now unveiling Cloud Chamber seems somewhat of a mystery. Apart from the studio’s name and second base of operations in Montréal, Québec, the publisher is merely confirming a nearly two-year-old rumor. This also begs another question: How far along in development is this BioShock project? 2K’s press release says the title will be in production for the “next several years.” Who knows what exactly this means internally, though a public announcement does seem to suggest some amount of confidence in the new studio and the game itself.

[Source: Kotaku]

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This console generation has come and gone without a new entry in the acclaimed BioShock series from 2K Games. The publisher is looking to change that for next-generation, however. 2K has opened a new studio, Cloud Chamber, based out of two separate locations–Novato, California and Montréal, Québec. With Cloud Chamber comes the development of a new BioShock installment, one that will be in production for “the next several years.”

Check out Cloud Chamber’s official logo in the image below:

Since the project is in the early stages of development, neither 2K nor Cloud Chamber has anything specific to tease just yet. Therefore, details about the story, setting, and so on are likely to remain under wraps for quite some time. A couple of things are clear, though, based on a statement from 2K’s President, David Ismailer. Narrative will remain integral to whatever the next BioShock entails; the same is true of the franchise’s first-person shooter gameplay.

Industry veteran Kelley Gilmore, who’s shipped more than 40 games, is assuming the role of Cloud Chamber’s Global Head of Studio. This makes Gilmore the first woman in 2K history to “launch and lead” one of the publisher’s development studios. She isn’t a stranger to 2K, either. Gilmore spent about two decades at Firaxis Games, working on projects such as Sid Meier’s Civilization and XCOM.

This news seems to finally answer a few questions about the myriad rumors surrounding BioShock’s future. The most notable report hit the web in April 2018, claiming the studio had been operating in secret for quite some time. A Twitter post from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier addresses this very report. See the journalist’s tweet below:

It’s so funny when a company announces a new studio as if it hasn’t been operating for the past two years https://t.co/etRpNynI6R

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) December 9, 2019

Does this mean there’s also some truth to the speculation that the next BioShock may feature live-service elements? For now, it seems all we can do is wait and see.

[Source: Take-Two Interactive]

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