It might be hard to believe, but it has been a year to the day since the launch of the original, Irrational Games developed, Ken Levine-led, Rapture set, Bioshock. The game, widely considered one of the industry’s finest achievements has seen two sequels, one direct, the 2K Marin developed, 2K Australia, Arkane Studios, and Digital Extremes supported, Bioshock 2, meanwhile Levine and the team worked on a new game in the universe, Bioshock Infinite, a game that had polarising elements at first, but has become more adored with each passing year. Bioshock Infinite was unbelievably nine years ago, so the attention has turned to the next chapter in the beloved universe. Before that though, a celebration, because today it has been 15 years since the launch of Bioshock‘s initial release, and 2K are keen to celebrate.
2K are beginning a period of highlighting and celebrating the Bioshock IP and specifically the original game, tweeting “Would you kindly join us in celebrating BioShock‘s 15th anniversary #Bioshock15″
Geoff Keighley even got in on the act, dropping a heart reaction on the post, which is sure to excite fans considering the very notable GamesCom Opening Night Live 2 hour plus stream that he’s hosting this Tuesday that features “World Exclusives” from more than 30 different, largely unreleased games.
Back in 2019, it was revealed that Cloud Chamber, a new internal studio at 2K had been formed to be the stewards of the Bioshock franchise into the future, with Ken Levine and his new team, working on other projects. When the announcement was made, the following was issued with relation to Cloud Chamber’s game, “As we continue growing our product portfolio, we remain inspired by opportunities to invest further in our valuable IP, great people, and their collective, long-term potential,” said David Ismailer, President of 2K. “BioShock is one of the most beloved, critically praised and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation. 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.”
When speculating on the future of Bioshock there are a number of factors that need considering, from the NVIDIA leak of 2021 that suggested that the original Bioshock would be getting a ray-tracing enabled Bioshock Remaster, presumably exclusive to the PC and new consoles, the PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Then of course there’s the speculation that will build when a studio has been working on a game for nearly three years, that it couldn’t be a remaster, and that time must have been allocated to a new franchise entry. With Geoff Keighley’s GamesCom Opening Night Live now just around the corner, it seems more likely than not that we’ll have some insight into the franchise’s future imminently.
