The next BioShock launches in the open world

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• The next BioShock launches in the open world

Officially announced in December 2019, it looks like the ball is finally rolling on BioShock's next entry, with developer Cloud Chamber posting several job openings that offer a hint of what we can expect of the game's direction, as reports of PCGames No. Apparently one thing we can hope for is a less linear design, with the company's senior editor listing calling for "someone who can weave hard-hitting, character-driven stories into an open world." Additionally, the person in this position will be asked to "think of the main and side quest content", suggesting that the player can take on side quests alongside the game's main story. Cloud Chamber's list of video game AI programmers is perhaps even more revealing of BioShock's next direction, calling for someone to help implement an "urban crowd system and systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI." and "pushing the boundaries of what's possible with interactive crowd systems." A few other listings (Senior Technical Designer, UI/UX Designer, and Senior World Designer) lend additional credence to the likelihood of an open-world BioShock title.

What an open world could mean for BioShock

BioShock's main strength has always been its deep and layered storytelling, an aspect that tends to disappear when you get distracted by non-essential sidequests in open-world games. That said, BioShock seems like that rare example where an open world could enhance its main story. As a franchise, BioShock has always dealt with anti-establishment themes, and it sounds like "urban crowd systems" and "systemic tribal ecology" could directly play into that. Imagine, for a moment, a BioShock game set in a well-populated city, where your decisions as a player actually affect the AI ​​inhabitants of the city in real time. In other words, a game where your actions could inspire an uprising... Of course, it's too early to speculate on what the finished game will look like, though we hope Cloud Chamber can offer something more special than the usual "drive from point A to point B, clear the area and move on.” loop that most open world games tend to fall into.