After many years of silence from the studio Cloud Chamber and publisher 2K Games, in July 2025 new news suddenly appeared about BioShock 4. Unfortunately, bad news – there were reshuffles in the studio and the management asked to rework certain elements of the game. PC Gamer Portal speakWhat we know about BioShock 4 so far
BioShock 4 release date
The project doesn't even have a potential release date yet, even though it was first announced in 2019. The firing of Cloud Chamber studio head Kelly Gilmore and the move of the team's creative director to a publishing role following a damning review from 2K's senior management suggest that, even six years later, BioShock 4 still hasn't been released.
After review, the developers also had to start reworking certain aspects of the game. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick promised that the project is in no danger of being canceled.
The game's world and plot
In 2021, blogger Colin Moriarty revealed the first details about BioShock 4 on his podcast, saying that the game's plot is “set in the 1960s, in the Antarctic city of Borealis.” Then a screenshot appeared, said to have been taken during the temporary demo – in which the main character is looking at a retro-futuristic tower with a glowing orb on top from a first-person perspective.
But there are no details about the plot yet. The only thing known for sure is that Ghost of Tsushima screenwriter Liz Alble is working on the game – she was hired as the main narrator in 2022. We also know that the story was one of the issues 2K's senior management noted in the review.
Since BioShock Infinite's latest expansion, Burial at Sea, wrapped up several story threads, it's hard to speculate about the events of the next game. But BioShock 4 is unlikely to be a direct sequel to Infinite. Most likely, the fourth part will try to move away from the previous parts and explore a new world with new characters in the lead roles. Remembering the endless lighthouses in Infinite, perhaps we will find ourselves in a completely different reality.
That said, the developers themselves have noted that it was important for them to “create the world,” and 2K's particular attention to the story makes it clear that the publisher takes BioShock 4's story very seriously.
Mechanics and gameplay
BioShock 4 will definitely be a first-person shooter, a fact that remains unchanged even though the creators of the original series did not work on the game. In the potentially leaked screenshot, one of the weapons – a bouncing shotgun – can be seen, as well as symbols hinting at the existence of magnetic and electrical abilities. Time will tell if there is any truth in this screenshot, even though the information was leaked in 2021. A lot could have changed during the four years of development.
More information about BioShock 4
Who is working on the game
Although rumors about the development of the next BioShock 4 had been around for about a year before the game was announced in 2019, 2K confirmed them by announcing the creation of the Cloud Chamber studio. Ken Levine, creative director of the first BioShock and Infinite, is not involved in the project. Levine closed his studio, Irrational Games, after completing work on Infinite, then opened a new, smaller studio, Ghost Story Games, to create an unannounced game.
How long has BioShock 4 been in development?
According to Kotaku, what we know is not the first version of BioShock 4. According to insiders, Some Affinity studio was originally involved in it and gave the project the code name Parkside in 2015. But Parkside was canceled in 2016. The current version of BioShock 4 has been in development since 2017.
BioShock movie goes into production
Fans have been hoping for a film adaptation of BioShock since the first installment was released in 2007 – and now this dream could become a reality. A project based on the game will be released by Netflix; Francis Lawrence is in the director's chair and Michael Green, known for Blade Runner 2049, was initially in charge of writing the script. He was later replaced by Justin Rhodes, who worked on Terminator: Dark Fate and The Secret Level.
