A former Diablo boss has been brought in to oversee the next BioShock game, as the sequel continues to face development woes.
BioShock 4 has been shrouded in mystery ever since it was announced in 2019, but its development has hit some notable stumbling blocks over the past month.
We recently heard how publisher 2K Games is overhauling certain aspects of the sequel, including the leadership at developer Cloud Chamber, after senior executives were unhappy with its progress.
Cloud Chamber has now announced who will oversee the sequel, and it’s someone who has some history with the BioShock franchise.
As announced on X, former Diablo boss Rod Fergusson, who departed Blizzard earlier this month, will lead the BioShock franchise as the new studio head.
‘I’ll be heading up Cloud Chamber and overseeing development of the next BioShock game, along with franchise extensions like the in-development Netflix movie,’ he wrote.
‘While I’m excited to get started in the coming weeks, I recognise the studio restructuring is a difficult time for the team. I’m deeply grateful for the work done so far, and I’m committed to building a BioShock game we’ll be proud of and that our players will love.’
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Along with Diablo, Fergusson previously worked on the Gears Of War franchise. After leaving Epic Games in 2012, he joined Irrational Games to oversee the final stretch of BioShock Infinite, another project that was stuck in development hell for a decade.
His appointment suggests BioShock 4 is facing similar problems, and with the CEO behind Take-Two Interactive recently affirming that the game will definitely come out, this is clearly an attempt to get things back on track.
As alluded to in Fergusson’s post, amid this leadership shake-up, Cloud Chamber has been hit with layoffs. These were announced by 2K Games president David Ismailer in an internal memo (via Variety).
‘Work on the next BioShock game has been underway for several years,’ Ismailer wrote. ‘While we’re excited about the foundational gameplay elements of the project, we’ve made the decision with studio leadership to rework certain aspects that are core to a BioShock game, and in doing so are reducing the size of the development team to focus on this work and give the game more time in development.’
It’s unclear how many roles have been impacted but, combined with the leadership change, it sounds like BioShock 4 is still a long way off yet.
Beyond the upcoming sequel, a remake of the original BioShock is rumoured to be in development. Netflix is also working on a film adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence.
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