Could the next game in the BioShock franchise be a PlayStation console exclusive? According to a claim made by a host in the most recent episode of the XboxEra podcast, it might be, if only as a timed exclusive.
As is the case with all rumours, regardless of the source, you should take the following with a heaped and healthy helping of salt!
BioShock 5 PS5 Exclusive?
In Episode 126 of the XboxEra podcast, host Nick "Shpeshal_Nick" Baker made the claim that sources familiar with the matter had told him that BioShock 4 (currently in development by the 2K-owned studio, Cloud Chamber) would be exclusive to the PlayStation platform, at least for a limited time.
Thomas Mahler, Creative Director of Moon Game Studios (the developer behind the Ori franchise), featured on the episode as a guest.
It certainly is a provocative possibility, and while it may sound far-fetched, isn't a situation entirely without precedent.
Sony found great success by employing this strategy with 2020's Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a game that has been, and still is, exclusive to the PlayStation platform.
Securing a title from a franchise as revered as BioShock (even one sans auteur creator Ken Levine), would be a coup for Sony, and would go a good way to recovering the ground lost to Microsoft in the exclusive arms-race, after Microsoft's recent acquisition of Bethesda Softworks.
Whether this rumour ends up being true or not remains to be seen. 2K has been confirmed to be appearing at E3 2021, and we might hear more about the next BioShock game there, with a bit of luck.
Announced in 2019, BioShock 4 has been in development for several years now. While it is unlikely that we would get a release date at this years' E3, a development update, or even a trailer, is not outside the realm of possibility.