Next BioShock: Why Take-Two Says It’s Finally on a Great Track

The Next BioShock Is Finally Gaining Momentum – Inside Cloud Chamber’s Reset, Rod Fergusson’s Mandate, and What Fans Should Expect

It has been twelve and a half years since BioShock Infinite closed out Irrational Games’ celebrated trilogy, a stretch long enough for an entire generation of players to discover the earlier entries through remasters, speedruns, and retrospectives. In that time the series’ creator, Ken Levine, shuttered Irrational, founded the smaller Ghost Story Games, and began work on Judas – a new project he has said will echo certain BioShock sensibilities while deliberately breaking away in others. Meanwhile, stewardship of the BioShock IP shifted to a brand-new 2K studio in late 2019: Cloud Chamber, headquartered in Novato, California, with a remit to reimagine one of gaming’s most influential single-player shooters for a new era.

The road since that announcement has not been straightforward. Cloud Chamber reportedly rebooted development in 2023 and, in August of this year, endured significant layoffs affecting around 80 staffers. Those disruptions pushed internal expectations for release into the latter half of 2027, according to credible reports. Leadership also changed: studio founder Kelley Gilmore departed, and industry veteran Rod Fergusson stepped in to lead the franchise. With senior roles at Epic Games, The Coalition, and Blizzard on his résumé – and a reputation for shipping large, complicated projects – Fergusson’s arrival signals a pragmatic shift toward focus, scope control, and execution.

That context frames Take-Two’s most recent update. During the publisher’s Q2 FY2026 earnings call – the same briefing that confirmed a delay for GTA VI – CEO Strauss Zelnick struck an optimistic note about BioShock’s trajectory. Paraphrasing his remarks: bringing in Fergusson as the head of Cloud Chamber and the BioShock franchise has galvanized the effort; internal changes and resource shifts have been made; and the team now believes the game is on a great track to surpass consumer expectations. The message wasn’t a reveal of features or a date, but it was a clear read on momentum: after turbulence, there’s finally alignment.

Why Rod Fergusson Matters

Fergusson’s career is defined by turning sprawling ideas into shippable, high-quality games. From Gears of War to Diablo, he has repeatedly stepped into leadership roles where the mandate was to clarify priorities, set guardrails, and unblock teams. BioShock’s challenge today isn’t merely creative; it’s operational. The franchise carries the weight of a prestige label, and anything less than a generational swing would invite skepticism. A leader skilled at balancing ambition with delivery is precisely what a rebooted project needs.

Cloud Chamber’s Reset: A Necessary Step

Reboots can look alarming from the outside, but they often reflect a healthy unwillingness to compromise on the core fantasy. The original BioShock titles were more than shooters; they were mood pieces grounded in philosophy, environmental storytelling, and player agency within carefully authored worlds. Reassessing pillars like setting, systems, and narrative cadence is preferable to shipping a design that never cohered. If the result is a 2027 window that buys the studio time to iterate, that’s a trade fans may be happy to accept when the final product lands.

What Might “Next Level” Mean for BioShock?

Take-Two’s phrasing – “take the franchise to the next level” – invites speculation, but some safe bets exist. Expect production values that rival top single-player releases; AI that deepens systemic interactions; and a setting with as strong an identity as Rapture or Columbia, but not derivative of either. Accessibility, difficulty tuning, and replayable systems (think buildcrafting and open-ended encounter design) are likely to be emphasized in a post-Souls, post-Immersive-Sim-renaissance landscape. Crucially, BioShock’s DNA – moral tension, ideological conflict, and the thrill of exploring a place with secrets worth uncovering – will need to be preserved even as the mechanics modernize.

Meanwhile: Two Ways to Scratch the Itch

While Cloud Chamber steers toward late 2027, there are two BioShock-adjacent experiences on the near horizon. First is Ken Levine’s Judas, which the publisher has hinted is “coming up” and likely to arrive before the next BioShock. Levine has acknowledged familiar strands – narrative choice, systems interplay – alongside new structures designed for a different creative thesis. Second is the BioShock feature film at Netflix, set to be directed by Francis Lawrence of The Hunger Games fame. Production is expected to begin after Lawrence completes Sunrise on the Reaping, the next installment of that franchise. A high-profile adaptation can reintroduce the IP’s themes to a broader audience and, if handled well, reignite cultural conversation right as the new game approaches.

The Fan’s Timeline at a Glance

• 2013: BioShock Infinite releases; Irrational Games later shuts down.
• 2019: 2K announces Cloud Chamber to develop the next BioShock.
• 2023: Project reportedly reboots to refocus scope and direction.
• August 2025: Layoffs impact roughly 80 employees; internal targets slide toward late 2027.
• Q2 FY2026: Take-Two says the new BioShock is on a “great track” under Rod Fergusson.

The Bottom Line

For a franchise as beloved as BioShock, patience is part of the pact. The upheavals at Cloud Chamber reflect a studio unwilling to ship something unworthy of the name. With Rod Fergusson guiding development and Take-Two publicly signaling confidence, the project finally appears aligned behind a singular vision. If that means a longer runway, the payoff could be a modern BioShock that honors the series’ core – a daring setting, unsettling ideas, and mechanics that reward curiosity – while using today’s tools to push immersion and reactivity further than ever.

In that sense, “next level” isn’t just marketing speak. It’s a promise that the next time we descend into – or ascend above – a world bearing the BioShock brand, we’ll find more than nostalgia. We’ll find a bold, meticulously crafted statement worthy of a true successor.