Bioshock 4 isn’t dead, it just got a key lead dev from Ghost of Tsushima and Far Cry 4

It’s been nine years since the last BioShock game, and with very little to go on besides confirmation it exists, unconfirmed leaks, and scarce crumbs from the devs and job listings, we finally have a new piece of concrete news.

Far Cry 4 and Ghost of Tsushima narrative lead Liz Albl announced on Twitter (opens in new tab) that she will be making the jump to 2K Games’ Cloud Chamber studio as part of the BioShock 4 story crew.

The last installment of the historic action RPG took us back to a fantasy reimagining of 1912 in a steampunky socio-political exploration of one girl’s very integral role to play in the fragile fabric of time and space. Finally, we’re getting more news of its sequel.

Although very few other details have been given as to what the next BioShock storyline might be, Albl’s appointment to the team at least confirms that development is progressing – even if it does give an indication of how much further it has to go.

Tis the season

BioShock and its sequels are some of the best shooter RPGs of their generation, combining excellent action set-pieces with a thoughtful story and intoxicating worlds. BioShock Infinite released nearly a decade ago, and we’ve been waiting for a sequel ever since.

Liz Albl’s signing on to the 2K Games team is a hopeful sign of life. Bringing the prestige of Far Cry 4, Ghost of Tsushima, and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag to the BioShock table means that the team must be knuckling down after years of murky will-they, won’t-theys. 

We know Bioshock 4 will involve open-world gameplay and will feature a time period that will strike you as familiar if you’ve played through the other three games, but aside from this, the details have come in dribs and drabs.

Tweeting hack in November 2021, OopsLeaks (opens in new tab) claimed that the working title for the project was  BioShock: Isolation. Though, in February 2022, the same account claimed (opens in new tab) that around 40 members of the team had left the project, including leads, and that 2K wasn’t satisfied with the progress its studio Cloud Chamber was making.

The news about Liz Albl joining the team is pretty significant as, given the tumultuous goings-on over at 2K Games, it could indicate hope on the horizon for firmer details still to come in the new year.