BioShock 4 - What We Know So Far

It's been 12 long years since we first stepped foot in Rapture and heard the iconic, if not slightly pompous, speech from Andrew Ryan about his great city in the sea. And in those 12 years, BioShock has become one of the best-selling game franchises of all time, with over 33 million copies sold. It's no surprise then, that fans would be eagerly awaiting a fourth title in the series, and it looks like we're finally getting our wish. Take Two recently announced the creation of a new studio called Cloud Chamber, and that studio's first project will be BioShock 4.

While not much is known about the newest addition to the BioShock family, there are plenty of historical clues to inform our expectations. Everything from how long previous titles in the series have taken to develop, to the game's codename give us a glimpse into the game. So here's everything we know so far about the BioShock 4 release date, characters, story, and location.

With BioShock 4 having been officially announced in late 2019, a release date would be impossible to predict. But that doesn't mean we can't make an educated guess. In an interview with VG247 from 2010, BioShock creator Ken Levine told the site that BioShock Infinite had been worked on in secret for nearly two and a half years before it was ever announced to the public. It ended up taking a total of 5 years for the game to be completed and released.

If these numbers are comparable for BioShock 4, then we can assume the game has been in development for a few years already. Lining up the development schedule for BioShock Infinite and BioShock 4, it's possible that we can expect a 2023 release date. This is, of course, all speculation. But as soon as any official news comes to light, we'll update you here.

The BioShock series has created a number of beloved characters that fans would be eager to see return for the fourth game. But, realistically, what characters can we expect to see in the latest game?

According to a since-deleted thread on 4chan by user Zhykionn on Sept. 3, he had access to sensitive information regarding the new BioShock project. If his "leak" is to be believed, fans can expect to see characters like Eleanor Lamb, Dr. Brigid Tennenbaum, and the Lutece twins returning to the new title. Logistically, this would make sense, given the fact that Eleanor Lamb and Dr. Tennenbaum ended up topside after the events of BioShock 2. And because the Lutece twins have no problems travelling between parallel dimensions and time, they could show up in any iteration of BioShock that they wanted. Only time will tell if the "leak" from Zhykionn is legitimate or not.

If the iconic line from BioShock Infinite is to be believed, then "There's always a lighthouse. There's always a man. There's always a city." This has been true of all three BioShock games. But what does that mean for the story of BioShock 4?

No details are currently known about what BioShock 4 will be about. But given the vast array of characters with open-ended storylines that we've seen in previous games, the possibilities are endless. Will we follow up on the ending of BioShock 2 where Eleanor Lamb brought ADAM topside? This would allow us to see the implications of releasing the addictive and dangerous substance on the general population. Or perhaps we'll see an entirely new story with new characters and settings. We'll keep you updated as more information is released.

In an interview with GamesRadar, Kelley Gilmore, the head of Cloud Chamber Studio, revealed that this new title will not be affiliated with BioShock creator Ken Levine. This opens up the possibility of a return to Rapture, like we saw in BioShock 2. Levine was famously absent from the second installment in his beloved franchise for multiple reasons. One of his biggest reasons, however, was that he didn't feel a need for a second game in the underwater city. When Levine rejoined his team to help create BioShock Infinite, we saw a new location.

With Levine out of the picture for the fourth installment, it's possible the storylines that were completely ignored in BioShock Infinite and the Burial at Sea DLC will come into play with Rapture and its residents playing a significant role once more. The codename "Parkside" could suggest that we'll see some familiar characters from previous BioShock games on land for the first time. But for now, we're just left to speculate.