Earlier today, publisher 2K Games officially announced the founding of Cloud Chamber, a new game development studio. This new studio, which will be based in 2K’s HQ in California and a new office in Montréal, is officially starting development of the next Bioshock game; a continuation to the series which had previously ended with Bioshock Infinite in 2013.
2K Games Officially Announces a New Bioshock Game
“Bioshock is one of the most beloved, critically praised and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation,” states 2K President David Ismailer; “We can’t wait to see where its powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay head in the future with our new studio team at Cloud Chamber leading the charge.”
Of course, there are no details available about the Bioshock project itself; this is merely an announcement that development is officially starting. The game will probably remain in development for several years before anything concrete emerges from 2K and Cloud Chamber. As noted by Jason Schreier on Kotaku; development of a new Bioshock game actually began as far back as 2015, but under Certain Affinity. By the end of 2016, 2K took over development itself. However, the game had a subsequent reboot, with development continuing at 2K itself until at least 2018.
It’s unclear whether this is another development reboot, or whether Cloud Chamber is taking over any past development. Whatever the case, it does sound as though the new team is currently in the earliest stages of development, suggesting the former rather than the latter. Bioshock Infinite also had development reboots prior to its 2013 release, and developer Irrational Games shut down in 2014. In 2017, the studio was rebranded as Ghost Story Games and reopened with a small team of 25 employees. However, that studio hasn’t released any games or announced any projects since. It’s possible that the studio is currently working on long-term development of some sort. Or, it may simply be serving a support role to other 2K studios.