BioShock 4 is not set in Rapture or Columbia reveals new job ad

BioShock artwork — It sounds like Big Daddy won’t be returning (pic: 2K)

There have been hints and rumours of a new BioShock for years now, with 2K setting up a whole new developer, called Cloud Chamber, to work on the franchise.

Until now, nothing official has ever been announced about the new game but the first details come from a series of job ads, which specifically describe the game as taking place in a ‘new and fantastical world’.

The rest of the descriptions aren’t quite as explicit but the game is described as, ‘a stunning narrative and systems-driven experience’, with the combat designer expected to allow for ‘a high degree of player expression and experimentation within a highly reactive world’.

The combat designer will also have to, ’look beyond direct conflict, accommodate various play-styles and design encounters that can be resolved through player ingenuity’.

In other words, it sounds exactly like what you’d want from a new BioShock and suggests it won’t be some dumbed down action game.

There’s also a hint that the art style won’t be strictly photorealistic but exaggerated ‘to a point of caricature’ – just like the original.

The first two BioShock games were both set in the underwater world of Rapture, while the third took place in the floating city of Columbia – although even BioShock Infinite couldn’t resist returning to Rapture for a short visit.

This is far from the first time that important details – or an entire new game – has been unceremonically announced via a job listing, with Naughty Dog revealing they’re working on a new single-player game, NetherRealm confirming Mortal Kombat 12, and Bungie going into a peculiar amount of detail on their new non-Destiny project.

Why publishers keep doing this is a mystery, as unlike other leaks they never acknowledge them and never take them down – and unlike other leaks job ads are one thing you can guarantee are not a fake.