In news that will surprise absolutely nobody who has been watching the BioShock 4 development saga unfold in slow motion, Take-Two Interactive boss Strauss Zelnick has admitted the project wasted "a lot of time and money" chasing dead ends, according to Kotaku. So basically, classic AAA development then.
The good news - if you can call it that - is that Zelnick is now reportedly "feeling a lot better" about where the project stands. That's a very reassuring thing to say about a game that has been in development longer than some entire console generations.
Rapture was built in a day. BioShock 4 was not.
For context, Cloud Chamber Studios - the team 2K spun up specifically to make this game - was founded back in 2019. That's right, this game has been cooking since before the pandemic reshuffled every deck in the industry. We've had multiple console generations launch, entire studios open and close, and at least three different "gaming is dying" discourse cycles since then.
The "dead ends" Zelnick references likely point to the famously troubled development track the game has been on. Reports over the years have described significant creative and directional struggles at Cloud Chamber, which isn't exactly a shock when you're trying to follow up one of gaming's most beloved franchises. No pressure, right?
Is there actual good news hidden in here?
Zelnick expressing renewed confidence is genuinely something, even if it reads like a corporate "we didn't respawn at the last checkpoint, we respawned way, way earlier." Take-Two has a financial incentive to get this game out the door eventually, and the BioShock IP is one of the most valuable they're sitting on - so there's at least a business reason to eventually stop fumbling the bag.
No release window has been announced. No gameplay has been shown. At this point, BioShock 4 is basically gaming's version of vaporware with a major publisher backing it - a mythical creature spotted only in earnings calls and executive reassurances. We'll believe it when we see Andrew Ryan's portrait hanging in a new underwater nightmare, and not a moment before.
