After years of silence from developer Cloud Chamber and publisher 2K Games, there was finally some BioShock 4 news to turn our attention to in July 2025. Unfortunately, it was pretty bad news, as prominent studio heads were removed, and the game now needs to be overhauled in parts, thanks to a failed review by 2K executives.
So where does that leave BioShock 4 now? Well, a long time from releasing, most likely. If this news has you worrying about a possible cancellation, the boss of 2K's parent company, Take-Two, has assured us that it’s going to come out "without question," and when has an executive ever lied... so it's fine, right?
If all this hullabaloo has reignited your curiosity in what form Bioshock 4 might take when it eventually comes out, then this page has you covered. We’ve scraped together everything we know about what the game might be, who’s working on it, and when it could be released.
Is there a release date for BioShock 4?
No, there's been no mention of even a potential release date for BioShock 4 yet, even though it was revealed all the way back in 2019.
The removal of Cloud Chamber studio head Kelley Gilmore, and shift of creative director Hogarth de la Plante to a publishing role after a failed review by 2K executives, suggests that even six years later, we're a long way off even a release date announcement for BioShock 4.
Parts of the game also have to be overhauled now thanks to that failed review. And following news of layoffs and Rod Fergusson returning as the Senior Vice President and head of the BioShock franchise at 2K, Bloomberg reports that a potential release date target of late 2026 or early 2027 has been pushed back.
So sorry, the news just keeps getting worse and worse.
Acting as a (sort of) silver lining though, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick promises that BioShock 4 is not at risk of cancellation: "It’s going to come out. That I can say hand on heart, without question."
Zelnick also offered some more comments on why parts of the game have to be overhauled: "We need to make sure that this experience is true to the BioShock DNA on the one hand, and a massive step forward on the other hand. That's always challenging. We think we're up to the challenge, but it has not been seamless."
BioShock 4 setting and story
Leaks suggest Bioshock 4's setting is 1960's Antarctica
All the way back in 2021, Youtuber Colin Moriarty gave us our first tidbits of any substance on his podcast Sacred Symbols, saying: "It takes place in a 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis. [The game's] codenamed 'Parkside'… I’ve been told that the development team has incredible latitude to get it right."
Like any rumor, we should take this with a big dose of tempered expectations—but it's hard to argue with how exciting the visuals here could be. Visions of arctic research stations and vintage scientific equipment dance through heads.
A potential leaked picture shows a retro-futuristic tower
The possibly leaked screenshot, apparently originating from a demo featured in a 2021 reel, shows us a first-person view of somebody looking up at a retro-futuristic tower with a glowing orb atop it.
Sure sounds very BioShock-y.
Do we know anything more about BioShock 4's story?
Sorry, the only definite things we know about BioShock 4's story is that Ghost of Tsushima writer Liz Albl, was hired as its narrative lead back in 2022; and that its story was one of the issues raised in the failed review by 2K executives.
BioShock Infinite's final DLC, Burial at Sea, wrapped up some loose ends, which makes it a bit hard to speculate on what the next game will be like. It seems unlikely that BioShock 4 will be a direct sequel to Infinite.
We'd speculate that BioShock 4 might distance itself by exploring new characters and new locations. Given the lighthouses leading to alternate worlds in Infinite's Sea of Doors, perhaps we'll end up visiting another reality entirely. Oh, and Cloud Chamber's website has a lighthouse centered pretty prominently near the top of the page, which reads like a clue to us. There's always a lighthouse, etc.
We can at least rest easy knowing that where and whenever BioShock 4's story takes place, the story itself will be an important part of the experience. "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," said Cloud Chamber's ex-global studio head Kelley Gilmore.
The phrase "yet-to-be-discovered worlds" does suggest that BioShock 4 will be headed somewhere entirely new rather than back to Rapture.
The fact that the game was flagged as having story issues on the 2K review, and that its being "overhauled", does suggest in a weird way that BioShock 4's story is at least being treated seriously internally. That it's not going the way of just an action-packed FPS, at the very least.
BioShock 4 gameplay info
Will BioShock 4 still be a shooter?
Definitely. When announcing that BioShock 4 is in the works, 2K said it can't wait to see where the new studio Cloud Chamber takes its "powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay" in the future.
BioShock may be in new hands, which does inevitably mean some change, but it sounds like Cloud Chamber will be marching along with a focus on what made the previous games popular.
That possibly leaked screenshot also showed off a weapon called the Ricochet Shotgun, and the UI displayed icons suggesting that you have magnetic and electrical powers equipped, along with a time-slowing ultimate. Sounds pretty cool, but keep in mind that we don't even know if this leak is legit. And even if it is, the screenshot is from 2021—anything could have changed since then.
More BioShock 4 info
Who's making BioShock 4?
Although rumors about the next BioShock game had been circulating for about a year prior to its 2019 announcement, we finally got confirmation of its existence when publisher 2K announced the formation of the new studio, Cloud Chamber.
2K described the new studio, (previously led by Kelley Gilmore), as "a collective of storytellers eager to push the frontlines of interactive entertainment by making unique, entertaining and thoughtful experiences that engage the world."
Is Ken Levine involved?
One thing we definitely know is that Ken Levine, creative director from the first BioShock and Infinite, won't be involved. Levine shut down Irrational Games after wrapping up BioShock Infinite and is now has busy working on Judas at Ghost Story Games (also under 2k). But even if he wasn't working on Judas, Levine doesn't seem interested in returning to retread old ground anyway.
"I decided that I didn't know what else I had to say in the BioShock front, and so I walked away from it," Levine explains in an interview with MrMattyPlays.
Levine elaborated that "Part of that was not related to the franchise or the people, it was just that feeling I had the whole time, that I was competing against myself, and it made me wonder whether I want to do sequels anymore."
How long has BioShock 4 been in development?
According to a Kotaku report, this isn't the first iteration of BioShock 4. Apparently it was originally in development at Certain Affinity under the codename Parkside in 2015. That version of BioShock 4 was cancelled sometime in 2016. The version of BioShock 4 (as of 2022) has been in development, Kotaku says, since 2017.
So although Cloud Chamber's existence was only announced in 2019, it sounds like the team had been quietly working on BioShock 4 for some time.
When will we hear more about BioShock 4?
Given how tight-lipped 2K and Cloud Chamber have been for the last six years, and with the recent removal of key leadership figures, it could be a long while yet before we hear more about the next BioShock.
BioShock 4 has never appeared at a digital showcase or conference since it was announced, and we don't really think it will for quite a while. At least not until that "overhaul" is well under way.
