Cloud Chamber, the studio behind the BioShock series games, is reportedly laying off staff amid leadership changes. The studio appointed Rod Fergusson to lead the production of the upcoming game, which has been in development for several years now.
The project is yet to receive an official title or release date despite being in production for some time now, with multiple restarts and adjustments. The layoffs are reportedly cutting across the development team behind the game, with no precise details on the scale of the cuts.
Uncertainty still surrounds BioShok 4 after six years of development.
The restructuring announcement follows the recent appointment of Rod Fergusson, former head of the Diablo franchise at Blizzard. Fergusson has worked on several projects, and he is recognized as a veteran in the industry for delivering finished, high-quality games rather than rushed releases. After BioShok 4 failed the recent internal review, the studio head, Kelley Gilmore, was fired, and creative director Horgath de la Plante was taken to publishing.
The project is facing drastic changes, which have triggered reactions from fans. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two CEO, admitted that the game development has faced ups and downs, but asked the fans to honour the BioShock legacy. He attributed the longer cycles in development to the industry’s focus on quality, saying that they are prioritizing exceptional entertainment over sheer output.
Cloud Chamber was established in 2019 by 2K Games, a brand of Take-Two Interactive, to revive the BioShock series, which has been on hold for several years now. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the project has been restarted more than once as the studio sought to fine-tune its creative direction. The latest project, dubbed BioShock 4, has been in the works for nearly six years now.
BioShock has delivered several games in its series, including Irrational Games’ debut in 1997, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite. The pioneer of the series, Ken Levine, is currently working on his project, Judas, with his studio, Ghost Story Games, and he will not participate in the development of BioShock 4.
Fergusson brings renewed hope for the BioShock series
Rod Fergusson’s previous works have given him a stable reputation across the gaming industry. Before moving to Blizzard , He worked on the Gears of War series at Epic Games and The Coalition. He is known across the industry for his focus on production management and delivering projects on schedule. His leadership style has been characterized as pragmatic for avoiding prolonged development cycles currently experienced at Cloud Chamber studio.
Fergusson revealed his excitement for returning to 2K Games while acknowledging the studio’s ongoing restructuring. He applauded the work done so far at BioShock and committed himself to building a game that gamers will love. He confirmed that he will be the head of the BioShock Franchise and overseeing the development of BioShock 4, plus extensions like the in-development Netflix movie.
The BioShock Franchise is expanding into film with the upcoming game receiving a live-action BioShock adaptation currently in production at Netflix. Francis Lawrence, who directed The Hunger Games and I AM Legend, is the current director of the BioShock adaptation film. The film is expected to incorporate visual and thematic style drawn from the original games, which combined dystopian storytelling with art deco.
Cloud Chamber and 2K have not issued any comment so far on the status of the upcoming project, which remains in development with its future tied to Fergusson’s leadership. However, the 2K Games studio revealed it aims to preserve the spirit of the Franchise while exploring new settings and themes. It also remains unclear how the staff reduction will affect the progress of the game after the confirmation from Fergusson.
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