New BioShock Game Will Be An Immersive Sim, 'Semi Open World'
Give it to me!
A new BioShock 4 rumour is currently making the rounds online, and it sounds like the game could be right up my alley.
A leaker known as V Scooper has posted that the next BioShock game will be “an immersive sim” and teases the plot will involve “you investigating the regime behind a falling utopia in a dense, interconnected city”.
According to the leak, the game also features choice-based gameplay which shape the direction the story goes in, as well as realistic physics and environmental alteration.
V Scooper also teases that there’ll be “RPG-lite” elements, as well as featuring enemies who tactically react and adapt to your actions.
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BioShock 4 was formally announced in 2019, and is being developed by 2K's internal studio, Cloud Chamber. However, as of 2026, it still doesn't have a release date.
I don’t know about you, but if these rumours end up being true, I’ll be absolutely over the moon to hear that BioShock 4 is an immersive sim, something that the original BioShock series toyed with but never fully embraced.
What Exactly Are Immersive Sims, And Why Would BioShock 4 Benefit From This?
Depending on who you ask, an exact description of the ImmSim genre may differ, but it’s generally agreed upon that immersive sims are a type of RPG, where a player is given an objective but is given a huge amount of freedom in choosing how to complete that task.
There are usually a bunch of different mechanics and systems that interact with each other in interesting ways, too.
For example, you have a locked door you need to get through. Do you use one of your lockpicks to unlock it? Do you bust it down with a large instrument? Do you pickpocket the key off a nearby guard? Do you find a window or vent to get past the door without touching the door? Do you bribe the groundskeeper into unlocking the door for you?
You see what I’m getting at. There are pros and cons of each approach, so the fewer constraints a game has on your choices, the more immersive the experience feels where you feel like you can truly step into your character’s role.
The immersive sim genre began in the ‘90s with games like System Shock, Ultima, and Thief: The Dark Project, which were all made by Looking Glass Studios. Later examples of the genre include Deus Ex, Dishonored, and STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.
The original BioShock was made by Ken Levine and other former developers of Looking Glass Studios, with the premise of being a spiritual successor to System Shock. It ended up having a few ImmSim-type elements, but wasn’t a straightforward example of the genre.
BioShock 4 being an immersive sim might be a great way to bring the franchise back, which hasn’t been seen since 2013’s BioShock Infinite. It’d need to go deeper on the ImmSim elements, offering players a huge amount of freedom in how to play the game.
What’s more, it’d be great to see a AAA studio take on the Immersive Sim once again. This is a genre that doesn’t generally sell amazingly well, at least to meet the demands of corporate suits who constantly demand infinite growth from their studios. It’s why Dishonored and Prey haven’t had new entries in years, and why Deus Ex seems to be dead in the water too.
ImmSims are thriving in the indie scene lately, as evidenced by games like Skin Deep, Gloomwood, and Fallen Aces. But from a studio with a giant budget? It’s been pretty dry lately.