After the launch of BioShock Infinite, the majority of the staff at Irrational Games was let go, as Ken Levine decided to work on a new game with a much smaller team. Shawn Elliott, who worked at Irrational as both an associate producer and level designer for BioShock Infinite, joined Arkane Studios to work on the Prey reboot. Now Elliott is back at 2K Games, working at its unnamed studio in Novato, California on a new project as its principle combat designer.

At this point, it's unclear what project Elliott is working on, as the game is currently unannounced. However, it's been suggested in the past that the game is an FPS based on an existing 2K Games franchise, which has led many to assume it's a new BioShock title. If so, bringing Elliott back into the fold would make a great deal of sense on the part of 2K Games, given his experience with the franchise.

We've known for years that 2K Games has planned on continuing the BioShock franchise without Ken Levine. While some would rather not see another BioShock game release without Levine's creative input, it's simply too popular of a franchise for 2K Games to ignore.

If a new BioShock game is in development, it's hard to say what form it will take. It's possible we will get another story set in the underwater city of Rapture, or perhaps a new game that returns to the floating city of Columbia. Perhaps a more appealing possibility is that the next BioShock takes players to a brand new setting that they've never seen before, but it's anyone's guess as to what it may be like.

One thing that seems likely is that the next BioShock will have online multiplayer of some kind. That's because all future Take-Two Interactive games will have microtransactions, and while microtransactions have been seen in story-driven single player games, they are more commonly seen in multiplayer titles.

All of this is just speculation at this time. While it seems likely that Shawn Elliott has returned to 2K Games to work on a new BioShock title, it's also entirely possible that the project is something completely different. Ultimately, fans will just have to wait for 2K Games to be willing to share more information on the project before they will know for sure.

The new game from 2K's Novato studio is currently in development for unspecified platforms.

Source: Resetera