BioShock 4 Is 'Going to Come Out,' Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick Promises: 'That I Can Say Hand on Heart, Without Question'

BioShock 4 has reportedly been in development for more than a decade at various studios under the 2K Games banner. But it has suffered yet another overhaul after it reportedly failed a review by executives and the head of its developer, Cloud Chamber, was ousted. Now, the fourth BioShock feels further away than ever. So, what’s going on?

In an interview ahead of 2K parent company Take-Two reporting its latest 2025 quarterly earnings, I asked CEO Strauss Zelnick flat out if BioShock 4 was in danger of being canceled. Zelnick was clear in his response: “It’s going to come out,” he promised. “That I can say hand on heart, without question.”

Zelnick sounds pretty confident, then. But it’s hard to get away from BioShock’s tumultuous — and lengthy — development. On this, Zelnick held his hands up, admitting BioShock 4 has had its troubles. But he also explained why it’s proving such a hard nut to crack.

“We don't talk about how long our development cycles are,” Zelnick began. “We have had some ups and downs along the way. That is accurate. And we have had changes in studio leadership. That said, we have very big shoes to fill on BioShock because of the legacy of Ken Levine, the legacy of what has gone before, which has been so successful. And we need to make sure that this experience is true to the BioShock DNA on the one hand, and a massive step forward on the other hand. That's always challenging. We think we're up to the challenge, but it has not been seamless.”

This week, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier broke the news of BioShock 4’s overhaul, and offered some insight into its troubles. “The game’s narrative was identified as an area that was particularly in need of improvement and will be revamped in the coming months,” Schreier reported.

“In a recent all-hands meeting, Cloud Chamber staff were told that the company needs to become more agile and efficient, leading to worries that layoffs may follow,” Schreier continued.

There hasn’t been a new BioShock game since 2013’s BioShock Infinite (Ken Levine is still working under the 2K banner on Judas). But BioShock 4 is not alone in having a lengthy development cycle, and we’ve seen — very recently — some publishers cancel games that were in development for six, seven, or even eight years. Sony’s live service flop Concord, for example, was in the works for years before its disastrous release. Microsoft just canceled Rare’s Everwild, which was revealed six years ago.

It is clear from the outside looking in that triple-A video game development is getting longer, which is something Zelnick not only agrees with, but offered an explanation for.

“I think it's a reflection of the fact that as entertainment businesses mature, consumers seek quality and everyone realizes that the consumer is highly demanding and properly so,” he said.

“The strategy of this company has always been to make the best entertainment, not necessarily the most entertainment. Of course, sometimes we've fallen short, but frankly a precious few times.

“And I think some of our competitors have realized maybe a little late in the day that consumers are not okay with okay. Good is the new bad, great is the new great. And our goal here is to make everything exceptional.”

Zelnick added that he didn’t mean to be critical of other video game companies “because this is really hard stuff, and you don't want to criticize someone for sticking with their creative talent, supporting them and trying to get a great result.” But he did say that Take-Two “would like to fail fast if we're going to fail.”

“And we have made some hard decisions relatively early on. But we too have occasionally canceled titles well into their development. So it's hard. What we're all doing is hard.”

2K Games issued the following statement to Bloomberg on BioShock 4:

We are working hard to set BioShock up for the best possible future. Right now, we have a good game, but we are committed to delivering a great one. We are working closely with leadership at the studio to define this path.

The question now is, when might we see BioShock 4 actually come out?

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.