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.

The long-awaited BioShock patch is now available from FileShack, updating the game to v1.1. The 27mb download fixes a host of technical issues, while also adding new plasmids and gene tonics to the game.

As we noted earlier, the patch and new DLC are also available for the Xbox 360 release of the game. ... Read more

The first patch and round of downloadable content for Irrational Games' 2K Boston and 2K Australia's dystopian underwater FPS BioShock (PC, X360) arrives in just a few hours, at 12 AM PST/3 AM EST on Tuesday, December 4. (Update: It's here!)

As promised, the one-two patch-DLC sucker-punch will allow users to tweak their horizontal field-of-view, which was an incredibly controversial omission following the game's August release. Other additions detailed in the full change log include new plasmids, a new Xbox 360 achievement, the ability to disable Vita Chambers, and numerous bug fixes.

Once the patch is available, Xbox Live-connected Xbox 360 players will be automatically prompted to download it when they boot the game, with the free plasmid DLC requiring a separate manual download from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Said plasmids are included in the PC patch, which will be available from a number of sites, including your local neighborhood FileShack. Those who purchased the game via Steam or Direct2Drive will find the patch available through those services.

Word of the patch's imminent arrival came from beloved community manager Elizabeth Tobey via the official source of all things BioShock, The Cult of Rapture.

Publisher 2K Games sends word that a few BioShock patches will be released next week, in addition to a free downloadable content pack for the hit game. (Update: It's here!)

2K community manager Elizabeth Tobey tells Shacknews that the DLC will at least include extra plasmids for players to mess around with, a way to disable Vita-Chambers for hardcore play, and bug fixes.

The patches will also address the game's field-of-vision perspective, following an intense bout of controversy over the way BioShock handles its widescreen display.

A title update to the Xbox 360 version will be released alongside the DLC, while the PC patch will come bundled with the content. Expect a patch list to be posted on The Cult of Rapture website when the downloads go live.

The folks at 2K Boston let us know that they are hiring. The developer behind BioShock is looking for programmers, producers, designers, artists and audio engineers.

Sounding Like a Winner on GameZone talks to Garry Schyman, composer of the music found in BioShock.

In case our own spoiler-laden interview with Ken Levine wasn't enough, GameSpot now also has an interview about specific elements in BioShock. Don't read unless you have finished the game!

The 50th Gamers With Jobs podcast is up, co-hosted by 2K Games Boston's Ken Levine. As you'd expect, BioShock is among the topics discussed.