How Much is the Bioshock Video Game Franchise Worth?

The BioShock video game series was first developed and released by Irrational Games. Ken Levine is the creator and writer who was joined by artist Scott Sinclair and composer Garry Schyman to bring the game and its adventures to life. It was published by 2K Boston/2K Australia. The first person shooter game became a sensation shortly after the release of the original game titled Bioshock on August 21, 2007. More than 25 million copies were shipped worldwide. With such popularity, how much is the Bioshock franchise worth? We looked into it and what we found was impressive, but not surprising.

Multiple platforms by other publishers

The Bioshock series was released in several different platforms, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and 4, Microsoft Windows, OSX, iOS, Linux, Shield Portable, Shield Tablet and Shield Android TV. The first platforms were Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. It was released in North America for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows on August 21 of 2007, then just 3 days later in Australia and Europe. 2K Marin developed the video game for PlayStation 3 in mid-October of 2008 and added some cool extra features which were big hits with fans of the game who had been playing it in other platforms for a year. The franchise was rapidly expanding which was good news for the original developer. A year later, a Mac OS X operating system version was released. IG Fun followed up with the development of the Bioshock series for mobile platforms.

The release of the sequel

Bioshock 2 hit the market in February of 2010. Just 6 months later, Irrational Games gave avid gamers and fans of the video game more good news with their release of the official trailer for the Bioshock Infinite title that was released near the end of March in 2013. This title sold more than 11 million copies by the Spring of 2015. A total of 3 games in the Bioshock series topped over 25 million in sales by the Spring of 2015.

A fourth game in the Bioshock series

The final installment in the Bioshock series is Parkside. The game was announced in February of 2014. It was at this point that Irrational Games made the decision to turn over the intellectual property for the video game to 2K Games. Irrational bowed out as the developer officially. It wasn’t even a month before 2K Games announced to Game Informer that they fully intended to continue the Bioshock series and it would be handed over to 2K Marin to take the lead in exploring new options. Levine, the developer for Irrational Games made the choice to leave the Bioshock franchise to attend to personal concerns including his health and his family.

The series continues to expand

This development studio that is embedded within the 2K Games corporation and had undergone a restructuring. Several of their employees had left to work for a new Bay Area studio and continued the Bioshock franchise development with Parkside. This news was released in April of 2018.

Inclusions when figuring the net worth of the Bioshock franchise

The Bioshock series is not yet finished making sales. While the original games in the collection sold over 25 million, the game is continuing on. In addition to the video games, there have also been spin-offs, fan-made sequels, and recreations of the game. A book titled “Bioshock: From Rapture to Columbia was released in 2018. It detailed the stories in the games and their development, along with how developers used mythology and history in their creation.

How much is the Bioshock franchise worth?

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is the owner of 2K who currently owns the rights to the Biosphere franchise. The American video game company is headquartered in New York City. Its current valuation is estimated to be 1.414 billion in USD. The Bioshock series has sold more than 25 million copies. The price range for the games in the series ranges between $5.99 and $60, depending on when you made the purchase and the edition of the game. The third installment was made with a budget of $100 million for development and an additional $100 million for marketing, bringing the total cost of development to $200 million. Although there are no charts available that show the precise breakdown of the total value of the Bioshock franchise, we can assume that the total value of the franchise is high. As the video game developer is currently working on a new release, the value of the franchise can only increase in value.