An image of the next mainline BioShock has reportedly leaked online, although it reveals next to nothing about the game.
MP1ST published an image it had unearthed from the showreel of a visual effects artist who works for publisher 2K. IGN has asked 2K for comment.
According to the site, the image is taken from a 2021 showreel that depicts an early demo build of the game, so it’s already years out of date and probably doesn’t reflect what fans can expect to play when the next BioShock eventually comes out.
It includes the expected first-person shooter perspective from the previous BioShock games, as well as a basic user interface and what’s called a ‘Ricochet Shotgun.’ We see what looks like BioShock-style plasmid powers in icon form, triggered by controller bumper button presses. It's hard to tell what these are meant to indicate, but one looks like an electricity bolt, which would be very BioShock. Another looks like a stopwatch, so perhaps there were, and still are, plans to be able to pause time during gameplay.
The character is facing what looks like a burning orb set atop a pedestal of some kind. Of note: the codename Parkside is displayed on the image, which tallies with a 2019 Kotaku report that revealed the same codename, and a recent Epic Game Store leak of video game codenames.
2K announced the upcoming BioShock sequel in 2019. It’s in development at 2K studio Cloud Chamber after initially being outsourced to Halo support studio Certain Affinity. 2K is yet to call the game BioShock 4, so it remains unclear whether it will be a sequel, a prequel, or something separate to what’s come before.
But we do know it’s set in what 2K has called a “new and fantastical world”, so don’t expect a return to Rapture or Columbia, the settings of BioShock 1 and 2, and Bioshock Infinite, respectively.
Original BioShock development chief Ken Levine is not involved. After Levine left Irrational Games and the studio was shut down he set up a new developer called Campfire Games, later named Ghost Story Games, to work on Judas.