14 DAY TRIAL // Take Two might be praising GTA IV for its very good second quarter financial results, but let's not forget that last year the bulk of the profits that the company reported were not brought in by a Rockstar crime drama, but by the more sober hit that was 2K Boston's BioShock. So, it was no surprise that Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick commented on the evolution of the BioShock franchise when he spoke to investors and analysts.
One of the people attending the conference call asked whether the movie based on BioShock, currently in development and with Gore Verbisnki of Pirates of the Carribean directing, would be launched together with BioShock 2, which is now being developed by the newly formed studio 2K Marin. Zelnick said that "It's unlikely that the picture would be released to coincide with BioShock 2. It would be more likely that it would be released coincidentally with BioShock 3. That also remains to be seen".
What Zelnick did with that answer was in fact to tease the audience and the larger gaming community. Initially, BioShock, as imagined by Ken Levine, was supposed to be an experience encapsulated in a single game. Only the market success of the first title spawned talks of a sequel, that was confirmed no more than 3 months ago by Take Two. It's unusual to talk about a third game in the series when there is no set date for the second one.
Currently, we have no release schedule for either the BioShock movie or the BioShock sequel. If the development goes as expected, Take Two is expecting the game to be ready in the last quarter of 2009, while filming on the movie has not even begun.
However, the prospect of a third BioShock surely creates an even bigger feeling of anticipation related to the second game in the series.