BioShock Moving Forward and "Legacy Franchises" on the To-Do List: How Take-Two and 2K Plan to Revive Their Dormant Catalog
While the entire gaming industry counts down the final days to the global launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19, 2026, Take-Two Interactive is already laying the groundwork for the years ahead. Speaking alongside the publisher's second-quarter fiscal 2027 financial results, CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that Take-Two and its 2K publishing label are actively working to bring back several long-dormant legacy franchises.
Dormant IP Officially on Take-Two's "To-Do List"
Although Rockstar Games naturally commands most of the spotlight this fall, Strauss Zelnick has spent recent days outlining what the post-GTA 6 era looks like for Take-Two. When asked about the deep vault of intellectual property accumulated by the publisher over the decades and whether 2K plans to dust off some of its older series, Zelnick made it clear that multiple revivals are already underway:
"We are working on some legacy franchises that we're excited about. And you're right, we own a bunch of IP that we have not exploited in recent years, and it's always possible that we will. It's on our to-do list."
That commitment aligns directly with the multi-year pipeline Take-Two has presented to shareholders. Through fiscal year 2029, the company plans to release nearly 30 titles, with roughly half of that slate (15 games) consisting of sequels or remakes tied to established core franchises. As Zelnick recently pointed out when highlighting Take-Two's 15 multi-million-selling franchises that have each cleared at least 5 million units on an individual release, management refuses to treat classic IP revivals as "easy money" and insists on having a passionate creative team in place before greenlighting a comeback.
Next BioShock Still in Active Development at Cloud Chamber
Among 2K's quietest heavyweights, BioShock remains the most closely watched name on the roster. Thirteen years after BioShock Infinite launched in March 2013, the fourth mainline entry has navigated a rocky development cycle at internal studio Cloud Chamber, including a leadership overhaul that brought industry veteran Rod Fergusson (who previously helped ship BioShock Infinite and oversaw the Diablo franchise) on board to steer the project.
Addressing the status of the game during the same discussion, Zelnick offered a reassuring update: the next BioShock is "still in development" and Take-Two leadership feels "very good about how it's going." Whether Cloud Chamber's project counts among the legacy revivals Zelnick referenced or sits alongside unannounced comebacks, the publisher remains firmly committed to bringing Rapture and Columbia's successor across the finish line.
From XCOM and Spec Ops to L.A. Noire: What Sits in the Vault?
Beyond BioShock, the combined archives of 2K and Take-Two hold a treasure trove of fan-favorite properties that have gone untouched for over a decade. Over the past two years, 2K has already tested the waters by reviving its tennis series with TopSpin 2K25 (ending a 13-year hiatus after Top Spin 4) and returning the Mafia franchise to its Sicilian roots with Hangar 13's Mafia: The Old Country.
Looking deeper into the catalog, several dormant names stand out as prime candidates. Under the 2K banner, strategy fans have been waiting ten years for a full-fledged XCOM 3 from Firaxis Games following 2016's XCOM 2, while PS3 and Xbox 360-era cult hits like Spec Ops (inactive since 2012's acclaimed Spec Ops: The Line), The Darkness, Duke Nukem, and Army Men remain on the shelf. On the Rockstar Games side of the house, alongside the joint Max Payne 1 & 2 remake currently in full production at Remedy Entertainment, players continue to clamor for a return to L.A. Noire, Bully, or the street-racing series Midnight Club, which has been parked since 2008.
My Field Notes
Looking at the mountain of dormant IP sitting inside Take-Two's vault, it is honestly wild how many heavy hitters have been left to gather dust for an entire console generation. I was just talking about this with Bastien "Orion" while going through the publisher's quarterly breakdown: letting a premier tactical brand like XCOM go ten years without a numbered sequel, or keeping Midnight Club and Spec Ops locked in a drawer, is a luxury only the company publishing GTA could afford.
Still, Strauss Zelnick's timing here is no accident. Once the November 19 tidal wave hits, Wall Street will immediately start asking how Take-Two plans to keep its release calendar stacked between 2027 and 2029 without another decade-long gap. The warm reception to TopSpin and Mafia: The Old Country proved that players will show up for legacy comebacks when 2K puts real craftsmanship behind them. If Rod Fergusson's course correction on BioShock delivers and 2K finally pulls XCOM 3 or The Darkness off that to-do list, the post-Vice City years are going to be a lot busier than people think.
Originally from Lyon, France, gaming journalist Bastien "Orion" relocated nearly a decade ago to Quebec City's Saint-Roch district, right in the heart of eastern Canada's development studio hub. Before crossing the Atlantic, he honed his versatile reporting style across classic French gaming web portals and specialist television outlets in the 2000s and 2010s, notably with JeuxVideo.fr and JeuxNews. Equally passionate about AAA blockbusters, North American studio culture, retro preservation, and community modding projects, he anchors Pro-Gamer's transatlantic desk and real-time coverage of US and Japanese industry announcements.
