Get Ready for a Chilling Return: Bioshock 4 Explores the Arctic.
The Bioshock series accrued some serious awards back in the early 2010s, but any news from the series was nowhere to be found. With over a decade having passed since the last Bioshock game, it’s about time we get a new entry, don’t we?
After some dry bouts of hearing nothing about Bioshock, we may finally be getting some answers. Cloud Chamber Studios, the developer behind the upcoming sequel, has been on a hiring spree, with over 20 positions currently open. While the project was announced in 2019, details have been scarce. This hiring surge suggests development is ramping up and offers some clues about the game itself.
One key takeaway is confirmation that the studio is using Unreal Engine 5. More intriguing, however, is the listing for a senior combat designer. The position mentions “implementing Combat gameplay content in an immersive sandbox world.” This phrasing strongly suggests an open-world environment, a significant departure from the linear structure of previous Bioshock titles.
This aligns with leaks from 2021 that hinted at an open-world format. The leaks mentioned a fictional Arctic city called Borealis as the setting. Following Rapture (underwater) and Columbia (in the sky), the frigid Arctic seems like a fitting location for another ambitious, isolated society. There is also another leak that says the setting is going to be in 1960s Antarctica.
Other details gleaned from the job listings include a first-person perspective and a focus on player expression, a staple of the Bioshock series thanks to the plasmid system granting players unique abilities.
While the information is fragmented, it paints a clearer picture of what to expect from the next Bioshock game. With development seemingly accelerating, we can likely expect more concrete news in the coming months.
