The PlayStation 3 version of 2K Boston and 2K Australia's narrative-driven dystopian shooter BioShock will surface in North American retailers on October 21 and European stores on October 24, publisher 2K Games has confirmed.

"We are proud to introduce 2K Games' showcase title, BioShock, to an entirely new audience," said 2K president Christoph Hartmann. "With the addition of the new Add-On Game Content we are able to extend the award-winning adventure while maintaining the perfect harmony that millions of players around the world have fallen in love with."

Packing downloadable challenge rooms, support for PS3 Trophies, and all of the DLC previously released for the PC and Xbox 360 editions, the PlayStation 3 port was handled by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and external studio Digital Extremes.

BioShock originally debuted on PC and Xbox 360 in August of 2007. A sequel, due between August and October 2009 is currently in development at 2K Marin for unknown platforms, though PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 releases appear likely.

2K Boston and 2K Australia's narrative-heavy BioShock (PC, PS3, 360) has exposed millions to a new brand of shooter and effectively opened a new market, lead designer Ken Levine believes.

"I can pretty much guarantee to you that if BioShock wasn't successful, there never would have been another game like this," Levine told Eurogamer.

"I don't even know how we convinced people to pay for BioShock. These games had never made any money—everybody told us when we were pitching BioShock, sounds like a great idea, you'll sell 150,000 units—next!"

Levine added that his team aimed to popularize the gameplay emphasized in BioShock, which featured first-person shooting blended with role-playing and customization elements. BioShock predecessor System Shock 2 (PC) employed those elements to a much greater degree, but failed to reach commercial sales expectations.

"How many of these type of games do you think are going to be made now, compared to how many were going to be made before?" Levine asked. "How many... Read more

The PC edition of 2K Boston and 2K Australia's deep sea shooter BioShock (PC, PS3, 360) is now on sale at Valve's digital distribution platform Steam for $14.99.

The sale lasts through Sunday, July 27. The $15 sale price for the critically acclaimed Shacknews 2007 game of the year nominee represents a 50% cut from its current retail price point of $29.99.

The 50% price cut is also enacted for Steam customers in other territories. UK and Australia-based users have reported the game as currently for half off its respective regional price points.

2K Games revealed new details on the exclusive DLC for the PlayStation 3 version of BioShock.

The company has created "challenge rooms" that will challenge players to make use of plasmids and other abilities to overcome undisclosed obstacles.

"Challenge rooms retain the flavor of Rapture, but they're not trying to retrofit new story or new levels into the original game," said a 2K representative to Shacknews. "We're very, very respectful of the original experience."

The DLC will be accessed from the main menu. A Portal-style timer starts at the beginning of each challenge, and the player will be faced with a puzzle.

One example shown off was a carnival-themed level. The player had to compete in carnival games, using plasmid power to throw tennis balls into crates. The player then entered a room with a safe, where a series of trap bolts protected the safe. The player had to use telekensis to move the bolts, then continue to solve another series of mini-puzzles in order to save a Little Sister from a malfunctioning ferris wheel.

Four separate studios are working collectively to bring the narrative-driven underwater shooter BioShock to PlayStation 3, publisher 2K Games has revealed.

Along with 2K Boston and 2K Australia, which originally produced and released the game on PC and Xbox 360 last August, 2K Marin and external studio Digital Extremes are aiding in the port's development.

Formed late last year, 2K Marin is said to be made up of several ex-BioShock staffers and has been tasked with the next BioShock game. Digital Extremes' past efforts include Dark Sector (PS3, 360) and Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)... Read more

Gears of War 2 voice actor Carlos Ferro has claimed that Epic's cover-heavy sequel will be "more emotionally affecting" than 2K's narrative-driven shooter BioShock. Left, Gears of War 2. Right, BioShock.

Ferro lends his voice to Dominic Santiago, the partner of main character Marcus Fenix. During the sequel, Dominic is said to be searching for his long-lost wife while continuing to battle the legions of underground monsters that threaten humanity.

"[Gears of War 2 is] going to be more emotionally affecting than Bioshock," he told Official Xbox Magazine UK, as relayed by Kotaku and Team Xbox. "Beyond it."

Detailing the human tragedies and morally-questionable experiments of a failed underwater utopia, BioShock was released on PC and Xbox 360 last August. A PlayStation 3 version is due in October.

"A lot happens," Ferro teased. The specifics of how the sequel will top BioShock's guilt-inducing Big Daddy battles and option to kill little girls remain unclear, though more information is expected before Gears of War 2 hits Xbox 360 this November.

During a presentation today at Paris GDC, 2K Boston lead programmer Chris Kline said that, after considering the project's many setbacks, his company's successful shooter BioShock (PC, 360) should not have been the hit that it was.

"The very first failure was that we wanted to base this whole thing on System Shock 2," said Kline, according to Gamasutra.

"Here was our idea: Let's just make System Shock 2. This was easy because we'd already made System Shock 2. We knew it was a critical success, and we thought we knew all the things that kept it from being financially successful."

Kline noted that the project would require far more work than a simple iteration of System Shock 2. After a two year halt in development, the team carried over several elements from Shock 2, but found that much of the BioShock's basic systems--including the important monster AI--needed fundamental changes.

In fact, even after the game's intriguing 2006 E3 demo, BioShock wasn't building much interest amongst gamers. It wasn't until the companybegan selling it as... Read more

Update: While 2K Games has removed the install limit from the PC version of BioShock, other forms of copy protection are still present.

"Our other methods of copy protection remain," community manager Elizabeth Tobey elaborated. "You will still have to activate your copy, and you will still need to keep the disc in the drive. SecuROM has not been removed--just the activation limits on number of installs and number of computers you can install BioShock on simultaneously."

Tobey concluded with a promise that, "if we ever stop supporting BioShock [online activation servers], we will release a patch so that the game is still playable."

Original Story: Publisher 2K Games has disabled the installation limit built into the PC edition of 2K Boston and Australia's BioShock, lifting a restriction which allowed users only five simultaneous installations of the deep sea first-person shooter.

Last year, BioShock creator Ken Levine assured gamers that the DRM would be disabled when retail sales of the game were "no longer a factor."

"As promised, all activation restrictions, including install limits, have been removed from BioShock PC as of today. You don't have to patch or install anything for... Read more

The recently announced BioShock film is more likely to release alongside the third entry in the game series than the second, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

"It's more likely that [the BioShock movie] would be released coincidentally with BioShock 3," Zelnick said in an investors conference call, as reported by Kotaku.

BioShock 2, in development at California-based 2K Marin, is currently planned for a fall 2009 debut for yet unannounced platforms. Take-Two stated that BioShock creator Ken Levine will be involved in the development of the sequel, though his role on the project was not specified.

Zelnick has previously expressed interest in expanding BioShock into a full-fledged franchise, stating in an investor's conference call last year that... Read more

Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two spent millions to defend against the recent hostile takeover attempt by rival publisher Electronic Arts.

The news comes out of Take-Two's second quarter financial statement, which noted it had spent "$5.3 million in professional fees and legal expenses, with the majority related to Electronic Arts' unsolicited tender offer."

The company should be able to easily absorb the costs, after pulling in profits of $98.2 million, a marked improvement from its 2007 second quarter loss of $51.2 million.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV has sold 8.5 million units to date, with 11 million shipped to retailers. The game managed to move 6 million units in its first week, amounting to some $500 million in revenue.

2K Boston and 2K Australia's underwater action title BioShock also did well for publisher Take-Two, with 2.2 million copies sold to date across both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. A PlayStation 3 version is planned for release in October.

Publisher 2K Games today announced that 2K Boston and 2K Australia's hit shooter BioShock will soon make its way to the PlayStation 3. The company also released a lonely pair of screenshots from the PS3 port.

We knew this last week. The real news is the fresh release window: October 2008.

"Over the coming months we look forward to revealing the new features and content that will make this a must-have game for its new audience, as well as for those who enjoyed it on the other platforms," said 2k Games president Christoph Hartmann.

The long-rumored PlayStation 3 edition of 2K Boston and 2K Australia's underwater shooter BioShock (PC, 360) has been confirmed by 1UP and sister publication EGM.

The port is due out this holiday season, with some possible graphical improvements. Rumors had previously suggested a PS3 edition would arrive in September.

The site further reports that Thief: Deadly Shadows co-designer and BioShock artist Jordan Thomas has replaced creator Ken Levine as creative director of the franchise, which has a sequel in the works over at 2K Marin. Levine is said to be involved with the sequel, though his role has not been specified.

The next project for Levine and 2K Boston is not yet known, but has long been rumored to be a new X-COM title.

Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy director Gore Verbinski (pictured left) has been tapped to direct a feature film adaptation of 2K Games' BioShock, Variety reports.

The film will be developed by Universal Studios, which green-lit a multimillion-dollar advance to BioShock publisher and property owner Take-Two Interactive for the film rights.

Universal also announced that Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeny Todd screenwriter John Logan is in talks to pen the film's script. The studio has not yet targeted a release date for the film, though director Verbinski said he plans to start pre-production as soon as the script is finished and approved.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said the deal was structured to prevent any hangups in production, and to protect the property. Zelnick himself, formerly president of Fox, brokered the deal in lieu of a production company.

"The reason I structured it the way I did is to make sure it gets made," Zelnick said. "One of the things we decided early on is that we didn't want to go through a producer. It's terribly important to us to have a meaningful influence on how ... Read more

A report in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine furthers the long-running rumor that BioShock creator and 2K Boston studio head Ken Levine is working on a new entry in the long-dormant extraterrestrial tactical series X-COM, though it offers no new details.

The rumor has been circulating ever since a document attributing an X-COM title to then-Irrational Games, now-2K Boston and 2K Australia was found last year. The current projects of the studios behind BioShock (PC, X360) are unknown, though Levine is known to be participating in the production of BioShock 2 at the recently-founded 2K Marin office.

Further anecdotal evidence of a new X-COM game emerges from Levine's undying love of the X-COM franchise, which he has referred to as "sort of like my first love," as well as studio owner Take-Two Interactive's 2005 purchase of the X-COM property.

Apart from the supposed existence of a new X-COM, the OXM article did not unveil any new specifics or details, according to the Kotaku report.

A PlayStation 3 version of 2K Boston and 2K Australia's story-driven underwater shooter BioShock will arrive this September, assuming rumors printed within the June issue of EGM are true.

According to the magazine and proven NeoGAF proxy SuperSonic 1305, the PlayStation 3 port will pack improved visuals over the previous PC and Xbox 360 editions along with the previously-released free downloadable content.

When reached for comment today, 2K Games told Shacknews it had "no comment" on the matter. A PlayStation 3 iteration of BioShock was denied by creator Ken Levine last August, though his phrasing only indicated the studio was not pursuing a PS3 version at that time.

EGM's writeup further states that the upcoming BioShock 2 will be unveiled around September as well. No platforms have been announced for the 2K Marin-developed sequel, though PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions are expected.

Five job listings for BioShock 2 have appeared on Gamasutra, offering new tidbits on the possible platforms and story of the narrative-driven shooter sequel.

Revealed earlier this year and due out at some point between August and October 2009, BioShock 2 is currently under development at 2K Marin with the involvement of series creator Ken Levine. No platforms have been announced, though the original released simultaneously on PC and Xbox 360.

While all five roles--senior designer, lead designer, character rigger/animator, senior animator, and FX artist--generically list PlayStation 3, Xbox and Wii under platforms, nothing else within the job descriptions implies a Wii edition is underway.

However, the text for the role of senior designer specifically notes that PlayStation 3 experience is required, strongly suggesting that a PlayStation 3 version of BioShock 2 is being developed alongside the possible PC and Xbox 360 editions.

Additionally, the job listing for character rigger/animator reveals... Read more

Speaking at the 2008 Smid Cap Conference, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick mentioned massively multiplayer online editions of BioShock and Civilization as examples of the company's "potential untapped opportunities."

Following the release and strong sales performance of 2K Boston and 2K Australia's story-driven underwater shooter BioShock (PC, X360) last summer, Zelnick noted Take-Two's intent to transform BioShock into an ongoing franchise.

A sequel to BioShock, announced earlier this month and developed by 2K Marin with the involvement of creator Ken Levine, is slated to arrive on unspecified platforms between August and October of 2009.

As initially reported by MTV Multiplayer, other opportunities for Take-Two, which today told its stockholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Electronic Arts, include a film adaptation of BioShock as well as mobile phone iterations of both BioShock and Carnival Games.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive today officially confirmed that a sequel to 2K Boston and 2K Australia's underwater shooter BioShock will arrive during the company's fiscal fourth quarter in 2009.

Take-Two's fourth fiscal quarter runs from August through the end of October.

BioShock 2 is under development by the Novato, California-based studio 2K Marin. The new development house is rumored to consist of several former 2K Boston and 2K Australia employees.

The publisher also announced that BioShock creator Ken Levine will be involved in the development of the sequel, though his role on the project was not specified. Levine's home studio of 2K Boston is rumored to be working on a new X-COM title.

"[Ken Levine] is critical to BioShock," said a Take-Two representative.

No platforms were announced. The game will likely make an appearance on both Xbox 360 and PC, and comments made earlier in the year by 2K Games president Christopher Hartmann indicate the game could also be released on PlayStation 3.

The latest Gamers With Jobs podcast has an interview with Ken Levine, asking the 2K Boston boss about The Orange Box and Valve, the Spike TV awards, emergent story telling and more.

There's a Ken Levine Q&A on GamePro, asking BioShock's creative director about development of that game.