A new report reveals that the newly announced BioShock game has been in development for several years. 2K confirmed the development of a new BioShock game today, but said that it would be in development at Cloud Chamber "for the next several years."
An article by Jason Schreier at Kotaku confirms that the next BioShock game hasn't just started development, as 2K's announcement suggested. Schreier says that the game has been in development since 2015 when 2K got Certain Affinity, a developer which has helped out on Halo and Call of Duty games, to develop it. After cancelling that project in 2016, 2K moved development of the game to its headquarters in 2017, which is when work began on the newest version of the game.
Schreier's piece comes off as critical of the way that 2K announced the game today, but the reporter does suggest why the publisher may have done that. The BioShock games have famously gone through development hell and BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games shut down not long after that game released. BioShock and BioShock 2 were also developed using the controversial crunch development practice which is when developers have to work incredibly long hours to get a game done. Many major releases go through development crunch and so the BioShock series isn't alone, but it does confirm that the game's weren't always made in the healthiest or most positive of conditions.
2K could have been more honest about its efforts in trying to make a fourth game in the series. However, some fans will also appreciate that 2K wants to set expectations. It has been six years since the release of BioShock Infinite and fans have many ideas for what the new BioShock could be about. 2K did release BioShock: The Collection in 2016 but fans complained that the PC version was missing some major features. 2K's thinking may be that fans will be less disappointed by any more potential delays to the game if it now says that it could take years for the game to be released.
If the next BioShock game won't be released for several years, it also means that it will likely release on the PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett. The PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett will be released in holiday 2020 and they can offer players higher quality graphics and larger open worlds. These are things that could help to make a more entertaining game, so fans may not be so upset with the longer development.
Cloud Chamber's BioShock is planned for release in several years and has no confirmed platforms.
Source: Kotaku