Next ‘BioShock’ Game Reportedly Being “Revamped” After Failing Internal Review, Remake Of First Game “Shelved Earlier This Year”
According to a new report, the once-beloved BioShock franchise is currently in as disastrous a state as every incarnation of Rapture itself, with 2K Games having not only ordered its next entry back to formula, but also cancelled an in-development remake of the original game.
News of this disruption to the franchise’s revival plans was first broken to the public courtesy of Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who on August 1st relayed the news after learning of it from his insider sources.
As recapped by Schreier:
“Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is overhauling parts of the next BioShock game and shaking up management after senior executives expressed they were unhappy with its development, according to people familiar with the situation.”
“The new BioShock, which is being produced by Cloud Chamber, recently failed a review by executives at 2K Games, the publishing subsidiary of Take-Two, said the people, who weren’t authorized to discuss private information and asked not to be identified. The game’s narrative was identified as an area that was particularly in need of improvement and will be revamped in the coming months, the people said.
“2K Games subsequently ousted studio head Kelley Gilmore and moved creative director Hogarth de la Plante to a publishing role. In a recent all-hands meeting, Cloud Chamber staff were told that the company needs to become more agile and efficient, leading to worries that layoffs may follow, the people said.”
When pressed by Schreier for comment, 2K Games offered a written statement asserting, ““We are working hard to set BioShock up for the best possible future,” 2K Games said in a statement in response to questions from Bloomberg. “Right now, we have a good game, but we are committed to delivering a great one. We are working closely with leadership at the studio to define this path.”
Additionally, Gilmore’s ousting and de la Planete’s subsequent promotion was confirmed a company spokesperson, who further promised that the developer was “fully committed to ensuring we deliver a BioShock game that exceeds the lofty expectations of our fans.”
Unfortunately for BioShock fans, it’s not just its video games hopes that are currently on fire.
Announced in February 2022 and the second such project after Universal Studios’ failed attempt, Netflix is currently attempting to develop a live-action adaptation of the first game.
However, at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, producer Roy Lee revealed that following Scott Stuber’s exit as Netflix’s film head and his subsequent replacement by the still serving Dan Lim, the film had seen a drastic reduction in scale.
“The new regime has lowered the budgets,” said Lee. “So we’re doing a much smaller version. It’s going to be a more personal point of view, as opposed to a grander, more epic project.”
“They’re changing it to be a metric similar to box office bonuses,” added The LEGO Movie producer. “It’s a chart: It’s this amount of viewers, you get this amount of compensation in terms of increased back end. It motivates the producers to actually do a movie that gets a bigger audience.”
Ultimately, wherever the next lighthouse leads, it’s unclear when – or if ever – players will get to walk through its doors.
