Highlights
- BioShock 4 is facing challenges in its development, with delays, rewrites, and team changes causing concern among fans.
- The lack of updates and progress on BioShock 4 has led to speculation that it may be stuck in development hell.
- Fans are hoping that 2024 will bring news and reassurance about the status of BioShock 4, but the current outlook is not promising.
Irrational Games' BioShock series, particularly 2007's first title, is counted among some of the greatest games ever made. Elevating the medium to levels of respect and attention previously rarely afforded to it, the franchise has left its stamp indelibly on the industry and beyond. BioShock's influence can be seen well into the current generation and will likely continue to shape the future in some manner, such is its reach and impact.
After the third and most recent entry in 2013, BioShock: Infinite, the series went quiet until 2019. It was announced then that the IP had passed to a newly formed studio, Cloud Chamber, owned by 2K Games. BioShock 4 was officially confirmed at the time to be in development, and excitement for the fourth installment was understandably initially high. However, since that time, there has been little actual movement shown on its progress, and the longer the silence continued, the more worried fans became. With 2024 looming, many are hoping to be given a glimmer of hope regarding its status.
BioShock creator and former director Ken Levine is known to be working on a project titled Judas with his new studio, Ghost Story Games.
BioShock 4 Has an Important Choice to Make With Its Story
As the next official entry in the series, BioShock 4 has a meaningful decision to make regarding its story direction and continuity.
BioShock 4 Still Seems Frozen In Ice
2024 Could Reveal Just How Far Off BioShock 4 Really Is
BioShock 4 is fast approaching the 5-year mark from its reveal with almost nothing to show for it. Combined with a trickling of unfavorable leaks and rumors throughout, including it reportedly being re-written or redesigned multiple times, with team members departing and new ones being brought on at various points, many took this as a sign that BioShock 4 has allegedly been stuck in development hell. The fact that barely any news or updates have come from Cloud Chamber likely only supports this sentiment in the eyes of fans.
2024 would see it being 10 years since the last piece of content, Infinite's Burial at Sea Part 2 DLC, was released on March 25, 2014. With the wait getting longer and fans more anxious, this anniversary could perhaps provide a good opportunity for Cloud Chamber to make any kind of statement to reassure players that BioShock 4 is on track to some degree. If it comes and goes without a word, it would probably only serve to reinforce the idea that the studio's attempts to steer the BioShock ship are increasingly unlikely to succeed, at least any time soon.
Other BioShock Reveals Could Happen Throughout 2024
Without much firm information to go on, many fans have combed through the details that have emerged from the rumors and leaks previously circulated about BioShock 4, which point to it being:
- Set in Antarctica during the 1960s, in either two opposing cities or one giant metropolis separated by class/social divisions.
- Possibly an open-world structure.
- Supposedly connected to the previous titles, ostensibly via BioShock: Infinite's multiverse device in that case.
- Titled BioShock: Isolation.
If Cloud Chamber decides to comment on and/or confirm any of the above in the coming year, it would at least be an indication that it is still committed to and focused on realizing its vision for BS4, despite the long period of silence. Additionally, details about a Netflix BioShock movie have recently come to light, and this also presents a chance to provide a timely update. However, previous attempts at a film adaptation have faced hurdles, and a parallel could be drawn to BS4's issues at the present moment.
By all accounts, BioShock 4 faces an uphill battle at this time, and Cloud Chamber must choose carefully how it proceeds if it plans to keep fans' faith in the project on the positive side. The hope remains that it can eventually deliver a satisfying title worthy of its place in the series. For now, though, the well of information seems dry, and while there is a chance this changes in 2024, based on much of the above, it doesn't currently appear that it will.
