In the wake of the news earlier today that development on a new BioShock title has begun, Kotaku is reporting that the 4th game in the BioShock series has in fact been in development since 2015 – although that version was cancelled, with the most recent developmental iteration beginning in 2017. While the next BioShock may still be years away, it is perhaps sooner still, than some might have thought.

Reported by Jason Schreier, the next BioShock game, codenamed ‘Parkside’, entered development in 2015, when 2K contracted an external studio – Certain Affinity – to develop the title. Certain Affinity is based in Austin, Texas and have assisted in the development of various Halo and Call of Duty titles.

In late 2016 however, Certain Affinity was removed as the developers of the next BioShock title, with the project being moved in-house. Parkside was rebooted in the process. It is currently unknown as to why the Certain Affinity version of Parkside was cancelled.

By 2017, work on the reboot of Parkside had begun, with 2K “quietly recruiting staff, including some who had worked on Mafia III at Hangar 13 next door”. During that time, the Parkside team was said to be “small as their new BioShock entered early pre-production”. Still, it appears that Parkside, the upcoming BioShock title, has been in development since at least 2017, even if in a smaller capacity.

What this means is that while 2K’s claims that Parkside will be in development “for the next several years” remains true, the situation is perhaps more optimistic than first thought, with the game potentially arriving sooner than expected.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the news that the game has been in development since 2015? Are you glad to see that development moved in-house? Where would you like the next BioShock title to be set? Let us know down below.

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