Take-Two Interactive may have just teased a future announcement about BioShock 3. The popular game franchise began with the release of the first BioShock in 2007, which introduced players to a 1960s underwater city called Rapture. In BioShock, players had to navigate through an abandoned city populated by creatures such as Splicers, Big Daddies and Little Sisters, while using genetic modifications to increase their strength and abilities.
The game received critical acclaim and went on to become a hit for 2K, which is owned by Take-Two. This led to the development of two more games in the franchise, BioShock 2 in 2010 and BioShock Infinite in 2013. Although BioShock 2 didn’t quite meet sales expectations, BioShock Infinite had better sales and received critical acclaim and awards. It was a given that a sequel would follow, but in 2014, Irrational Games announced Infinite would be its last game in the series. The company later downsized and rebranded itself to focus on smaller titles. The future of BioShock was suddenly up in the air. It didn’t help that efforts to make a Bioshock movie also failed.
However, in 2015, Take-Two explicitly stated that it wasn’t done with BioShock and it remained committed to the series. The company released BioShock: The Collection in 2016, which collected all the previous games and their DLC. Now, it seems an announcement about a new title in the franchise is imminent. According to GameRant, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick mentioned something hinting at a new BioShock during an earnings call. Not only did he say the company had the “strongest development pipeline in history,” but that fans could soon “expect sequels from our biggest franchises, as well as an exciting new IP.”
Zelnick also mentioned he felt the company was well-positioned “to capitalize on the positive trends in our industry and to generate growth and margin expansion over the long-term.” Although Zelnick did not specifically mention BioShock during the call, there have been other hints that a new game in the franchise is currently in development. In 2018, reports began to surface that a top-secret 2K studio was working on a new BioShock game. More recently, video game analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities reported that Take-Two would announce a new BioShock game for 2020.
A recent job listing suggests that 2K is hiring people for the next Bioshock, which could be a live service game. This means a plan to release DLC and updates after the title’s release, as well as the potential for online events and multiplayer components. Then again, nothing in the listing referred to BioShock per se, but combined with these other hints and signs, it’s highly likely that the job could be for the next game in the franchise.
BioShock fans would agree that the world is overdue a new title in the series. The timing for an announcement couldn’t be better, particularly with The Game Awards coming up on December 12. That event would be the perfect opportunity for Take-Two to let players know that BioShock 3 is on the way.
Next: 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bioshock
Source: GameRant
