Though I suspect the final game will be very different.
You'd be forgiven for not remembering that a new BioShock sequel is still in the works, given it was first announced all the way back in 2019. Since then, both publisher 2K Games and developer Cloud Chamber (a newly formed studio built for this game specifically) have stayed surprisingly quiet about it.
That doesn't mean we've heard nothing, however. Like Rapture's ceilings, the project has supposedly sprung a few leaks over the years, with one rumour claiming it's set in 1960s Antarctica. Now it looks like we may even have an actual screenshot of it.
The image has been revealed by games site MP1ST, who claim it originates with a visual effects artist at 2K. According to them, it's from "a demo featured in a 2021 reel" (presumably included in their portfolio). It includes text referencing "Parkside", previously claimed by multiple sources to be the game's codename.
It depicts a first-person view looking up at a retro-futuristic tower with a glowing orb atop it—"there's always a lighthouse", after all. The character is wielding an admirably chunky shotgun called the "Ricochet Shotgun", and though their left hand can't be seen, there's certainly space for one to rise into view bearing plasmids. The UI bears icons suggesting they have magnetic and electrical powers equipped, along with a time-slowing ultimate. It's not the most detail-packed shot, so it's hard to glean much more, but it certainly looks the part of a modernised BioShock.
But given that this build of the game must be from 2021 at the latest, the screenshot may not reflect what the project looks like now at all. Last week we saw that Cloud Chamber is "recruiting like mad" for continued development on the game, which suggests to me it may have quite recently changed direction completely. So even if we do take the screenshot to be real—which is not a guarantee—it's still unlikely to reflect what we'll actually get when the game comes out.
Still, it's interesting to see some signs of life from the game. The series' fate seemed pretty uncertain when creator Ken Levine announced he was leaving it and dissolving Irrational Games (to go and make the very BioShock-looking Judas instead). A brand new team stepping up six years later didn't inspire huge confidence, and after a further five years of silence, I was starting to wonder if Cloud Chamber was even still working on the game it was founded to make.
If this screen is real, it's at least a sign of activity, and certainly the fresh round of recruitment is a promising sign. And though a bit of cynicism about the idea of a sequel without Levine is probably healthy, I think it's good to keep an open mind about the project. It's worth remembering that Cloud Chamber includes several veterans of the first game (and that BioShock 2, also made without him, was pretty rad)—I'm still cautiously optimistic that it could be a worthy revival of the series.
