The next BioShock from 2K's new studio Cloud Chamber

[LESS T_T]

Just announcement of founding the new studio. The next Bioshock will be "in development for the next several years". Studio is led by ex-Firaxis producer Kelley Gilmore.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...ild-another-unforgettable-bioshock-experience
https://venturebeat.com/2019/12/09/...r-game-studio-to-make-the-next-bioshock-game/

2K launches Cloud Chamber game studio to make the next BioShock game

Above: Cloud Chamber is a new 2K game studio.

Image Credit: 2K
Take-Two Interactive’s 2K publishing label announced the founding of Cloud Chamber, a new wholly owned game development studio that will make the next BioShock game.

Based in Novato, California and Montréal, Québec, the studio is part of an effort to create new triple-A games — in this case to feed the pent-up demand for the BioShock franchise, which hasn’t had a big release since BioShock Infinite and its expansions came out in 2013 and 2014. Kelley Gimore, a 22-year industry veteran from Firaxis, will run the studio and be the first woman in 2K history to do so.

It’s also the second new studio that 2K has created in the past year, as it follows on last year’s creation of 2K Silicon Valley, a new studio from former Call of Duty and Sledgehammer Games executive Michael Condrey.

“It feels like an opportunity of a lifetime to be under the umbrella of this great publishing group,” Gilmore said in an interview with GamesBeat. “Being able to start a new studio is pretty cool. We’re really excited about it and, and the enormity of the responsibility to carry this franchise forward doesn’t fall lightly on any of us. So I can tell you that from the get go. And you know, so far we’re a pretty small team. But the leadership is made up of some people who have a history with a Bioshock franchise, which, which is pretty exciting.”

Cloud Chamber will be a “collective of storytellers eager to push the frontlines of interactive entertainment by making unique, entertaining and thoughtful experiences that engage the world.”

The new BioShock will be in development for the next several years. Gilmore’s team includes Hogarth de la Plante, creative director; Scott Sinclair, art director; and Jonathan Pelling, design director. Gilmore said a number of veterans from the BioShock franchise are joining the team, and the studio continues to hire people.

“We have pretty good DNA for this franchise,” Gilmore said. “We’ve hired some veterans from some other really great games that have been launched in the market, like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, Star Wars, Battlefield, and The Walking Dead. We feel like we have the experience that can really drive this project forward in an exciting way.”

Above: Kelley Gilmore is head of the 2K game studio Cloud Chamber.

Image Credit: 2K


“As we continue growing our product portfolio, we remain inspired by opportunities to invest further in our valuable IP, great people and their collective, long-term potential,” said David Ismailer, president of 2K, in a statement. “BioShock is one of the most beloved, critically praised and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation. We can’t wait to see where its powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay head in the future with our new studio team at Cloud Chamber leading the charge.”

Gilmore has shipped more than 40 games to date. Her experience includes executive production, marketing direction, and public relations management, including nearly two decades of service to another of 2K’s wholly owned studios, Firaxis Games, on franchises such as Sid Meier’s Civilization and XCOM. She recently moved from Baltimore to Novato.

She said her team would create undiscovered worlds and push the boundaries of the gaming medium. Her own job will be to focus on the business side of running the studio, while others reporting to her will handle the creative work.

Gilmore has tapped Ken Schachter to be Cloud Chamber’s studio manager in Montréal. An executive with extensive experience in development, production, technology, and creative roles, Schachter will also be an ambassador for both the studio and 2K in establishing a significant company presence in Montréal, a first for 2K.

“We’re in two of the best cities in the world for game development,” Gilmore said.

Prior to joining 2K, Schachter served as general manager for Zynga in Toronto, and he founded independent game developer and publisher Trapdoor. He has also held notable positions with companies such as Gameloft, Autodesk and more.

Cloud Chamber’s decision to open a new office in Montréal was supported by the Gouvernement du Québec and Montréal International.

Besides Cloud Chamber, 2K’s family of studios includes Visual Concepts, Firaxis Games, Hangar 13, Cat Daddy Games and 2K Silicon Valley. Those interested in pursuing career opportunities with the new studio may visit the Cloud Chamber website or 2K Careers for more information.

“We’re looking for talent in every discipline of game development,” she said. “And of course, we’re looking for people who are crazy passionate about making games and love the BioShock franchise and are super talented.”

I tried to trick Gilmore into at least saying that there would be “Big Daddys and Little Sisters” in the game, but she didn’t bite.

Asked what Cloud Chamber means, Gilmore said, “I have to have to get my head together on it. At the risk of stepping outside of my wheelhouse, I’m going to get a bit sciency for a second. A literal cloud chamber is a scientific tool that lets us visualize particles in the atmosphere that are otherwise invisible. The chamber creates a space for them to mix with other elements and take shape. This inspired us to think about the ideas in our creative minds as invisible elements, and our daily collaboration as the vehicle for bringing those ideas to life on the screen, for the world to see. Hence, our studio is a human Cloud Chamber.”

Gilmore said the Cloud Chamber team would benefit from sharing knowledge with other 2K studios, but she said that Condrey’s 2K Silicon Valley is working on something different.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

High hopes for this one. Enjoyed each Bioshock except Infinite.

 

[Falksi]

It can stay in development for me the pieces of shite.

System Shock 1 & 2 were worth it, rest have been bollocks.

 

[Roguey]

Remember when a bunch of people lost their jobs because Ken Levine mismanaged Bioshock Infinite so severely that it didn't make a profit even though it sold millions of copies but Levine got the golden parachute of being able to mismanage a much smaller team for several years with nothing to show for it so far?

Starting up a new studio seems like more insult to injury. Just let the thing die. The AAA ~immersive sim~ meme is over anyway.

 

[LESS T_T]

FWIW some blurbs from job postings.

Previous experience working FPS or RPG titles

Together, we will set the stage for a stunning narrative and systems-driven experience.

You love the idea of player expression and are excited by emergent design and experiences. You know what good encounter design looks like, and understand how AI, tactical space, and player verbs combine to create magic in both scripted and unscripted settings.

• Develop an FPS combat paradigm that is accessible, satisfying, and allows for a high degree of player expression and experimentation within a highly reactive world
• Get creative: look beyond direct conflict, accommodate various play-styles and design encounters that can be resolved through player ingenuity

Also funny thing from posting for Cinematics Director: https://chp.tbe.taleo.net/chp04/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=GAMES2K&cws=74&rid=3770

HOWEVER – and this is where the role differs from what you might be used to – YOU WILL HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE IN-GAME CAMERA. Control is rarely taken from the player in our game (unless there’s narrative justification for it). You must be comfortable with having your hard work missed, unevenly framed, ignored, manipulated, and otherwise messed with.

 

[vonAchdorf]

The logo looks like it has been commissioned on Fiverr.

HOWEVER – and this is where the role differs from what you might be used to – YOU WILL HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE IN-GAME CAMERA. Control is rarely taken from the player in our game (unless there’s narrative justification for it). You must be comfortable with having your hard work missed, unevenly framed, ignored, manipulated, and otherwise messed with.

This sounds not too bad.

 

[karoliner]

All 3 of the Bioshock games were crap.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

And still no word on Ken Levine's little Spiel. But that's alright, he can be late. He's a real Mensch.

 

[J1M]

What was Kelley's name before the transition?

 

[vortex]

I think it will be heavy RPG/FPS hybrid.

 

[DalekFlay]

I don't even get why they announce games more than 6 months before release, let alone 3 fucking years.

 

[LESS T_T]

Announcement for recruitment and investors as well as long-term hype, I think.

 

[JDR13]

The Bioshock series is more shooter than immersive sim, but I like them for what they are. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

 

[LESS T_T]

It's Jason Time: https://kotaku.com/sources-the-new-bioshock-has-been-in-the-works-for-yea-1840314561

Sources: The New BioShock Has Been In The Works For Years

This morning, video game publisher 2K announced that it had formed a new studio to work on a brand new BioShock game, the fourth in the popular sci-fi series. It won’t be out for “several years,” the publisher said. What 2K didn’t say is that this project has already been in the works since at least 2015, although it’s been rebooted since then.

The truth is that BioShock 4, code-named Parkside, has existed for years, according to four people familiar with the project. Long before today’s announcement that a new company called Cloud Chamber will develop the next BioShock, 2K had contracted an outside studio to do it. In 2015, Parkside was entering development at Certain Affinity, the Austin, Texas-based studio best known for helping out on huge shooters like Halo and Call of Duty.

This was a big opportunity for Certain Affinity, which was founded in 2006 by ex-Bungie developer Max Hoberman and had mostly subsisted on contract work for external publishers. By the end of 2016, however, 2K had pulled the project out of Austin and decided to take the next BioShock in-house, rebooting it in the process. (2K did not immediately respond to a request for comment this morning.)

It’s not clear why Certain Affinity’s version of Parkside was canceled—we’ve heard different versions of the story from different people—but by 2017, 2K had moved it to Novato, California, where the publisher’s corporate offices are based. In the coming months, 2K started quietly recruiting staff, including some who had worked on Mafia III at Hangar 13 next door.

This Parkside team stayed small as their new BioShock entered early pre-production. The team remained quiet, even after a Kotaku report revealed its existence in April 2018. And today, two years after the studio formed, 2K has finally announced its existence (along with a sister studio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada).

In a press release this morning, 2K said that Cloud Chamber “has started to work on the next iteration of the globally acclaimed BioShock franchise”—presumably the publisher forgot to hit send on the press release back in 2017.

BioShock games are smart, ambitious shooters that take narrative seriously, which is perhaps why all of them have gone through such hellish development cycles. The first BioShock went through a big reboot and brutal crunch at developer Irrational Games. The second BioShock, which was made by a studio called 2K Marin, also put its developers through tough crunch before they moved on to the ill-fated XCOM: The Bureau. This led to 2K quietly shutting down its Marin studio (which the publisher has never acknowledged). The third game, BioShock Infinite shipped in 2013 following years of cuts and reboots. Irrational, the studio behind BioShocks 1 and 3, shut down a year later. Here’s hoping BioShock 4 has better luck.

 

[Nano]

I still remember playing BioShock 1 for the first time. The first few minutes lead you to believe that it's going to be a scary horror game, and shortly afterwards it devolves into a mindless corridor shooter. What a disappointment.

 

[DalekFlay]

long-term hype

I honestly think announcing too early kills hype. Makes it harder to maintain interest over such a long span of time, and by the time it comes out people are exhausted from hearing about it. I have zero scientific evidence for this hypothesis though.

 

[LESS T_T]

long-term hype

I honestly think announcing too early kills hype. Makes it harder to maintain interest over such a long span of time, and by the time it comes out people are exhausted from hearing about it. I have zero scientific evidence for this hypothesis though.

Well it's not like they actually announced the game, like releasing teaser trailer and concept art, or even title. Absolutely modest compared to, say, Cyberpunk 2077. There's not a lot to diminish over time.

Also probably at this point (6 years since Infinite) giving fans hope that the new game will come out is better than keeping silence for another 2 or 3 years.

 

[Alphons]

We've had underwater city and city in the sky. Calling it now- either we have underground one or one built in active volcano.

 

[vortex]

I'd say we'll go in city of multiple realities.

 

[Alphons]

Didn't Levine kill multiple realities idea with Burial at Sea part 2? I haven't played.

 

[vortex]

Didn't Levine kill multiple realities idea with Burial at Sea part 2? I haven't played.

Yes. Infinite had worst gameplay but story was solid and it set world of infinite possibilities to do.

 

[Hobo Elf]

It's Jason Time: https://kotaku.com/sources-the-new-bioshock-has-been-in-the-works-for-yea-1840314561


BioShock games are smart, ambitious shooters

lol. Just lol.

 

[Egosphere]

We've had underwater city and city in the sky. Calling it now- either we have underground one or one built in active volcano.

Or just a city on the ground

 

[Falksi]

I still remember playing BioShock 1 for the first time. The first few minutes lead you to believe that it's going to be a scary horror game, and shortly afterwards it devolves into a mindless corridor shooter. What a disappointment.

Not even mindless. I could live with mindless, chaotic fun.

But all you did was hunt around for ammo, unload, then regenerate anyway even in the unlikely event you did die.

It was worse. It was a none-event which not only didn't stimulate the mind, but didn't get the adrenals, blood, or any other parts of you going either.

 

[Egosphere]

I still remember playing BioShock 1 for the first time. The first few minutes lead you to believe that it's going to be a scary horror game, and shortly afterwards it devolves into a mindless corridor shooter. What a disappointment.

Not even mindless. I could live with mindless, chaotic fun.

But all you did was hunt around for ammo, unload, then regenerate anyway even in the unlikely event you did die.

It was worse. It was a none-event which not only didn't stimulate the mind, but didn't get the adrenals, blood, or any other parts of you going either.

It's a pity though, because an art deco city under the atlantic is a top notch setting