The Bioshock franchise has been a massive hit among gamers, but it kind of seemed as though fans would never see another entry in the series. While there has been a variety of things teased, few of these have come to fruition. However, this no longer looks to be the case, because developer 2K Games has announced the formation of a studio that will develop a new Bioshock title.
Though relatively few details are known, it’s been confirmed that the new studio, Cloud Chamber, will be headed by 2K veteran Kelley Gilmore. The name may ring a bell for many gamers, as Gilmore previously worked on the XCOM and Civilization franchises. Alongside this, fellow Bioshock developers Scott Sinclair, Hoagy de le Plante, and Jonathan Pelling are also involved.
Speaking about the as-yet-untitled game, Gilmore noted that there’s a large number of “creative directions to explore,” and he said that environments would be an important aspect of the new game.
According to some reports, Mafia III developer Hangar 13 had its talent raided by an unnamed studio that was working on an unannounced Bioshock game. While there wasn’t any official confirmation that this studio would go on to be called Cloud Chamber, there are a variety of coincidences. One of the more notable is that the unannounced Bioshock game was supposedly already in development by that point. As Gilmore’s interview so far might suggest, this would put Cloud Chamber’s upcoming title at around the same development cycle time frame. As a result, this could mean that those previously unconfirmed reports about a Bioshock title being in development, may have some actual legs to stand on.
According to 2K Games, the next Bioshock game will still take several years to completely develop. As such, it will probably launch well after the next generation of consoles has been released.