Following months of rumors, 2K Games officially announced in late May that BioShock was coming to the PlayStation 3. Three months later, the Take-Two Interactive label has narrowed that release window to a specific ship date--October 21 in North America and October 24 in the UK and Europe. In the US, the game is rated M for Mature and will retail for $59.99.

The PS3 BioShock is being primarily developed at 2K’s Marin studio, with 2K Australia and 2K Boston (formerly Irrational Games) and Dark Sector developer Digital Extremes also pitching in. Its storyline will be almost identical to the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game, which were released last year to critical acclaim and commercial success.

The PS3 edition will have some exclusive content, including a new Survivor difficulty level and "Challenge Rooms" for post-storyline skill tests. As was widely rumored, the game will also fully support the PS3’s new trophy system of in-game achievements.

Besides the PS3 BioShock, 2K Games is working on two titles the public knows of. The first is BioShock 2, in development at 2K Marin for release on unspecified platforms in 2009. (Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is prepping a BioShock film for the following year.) Though he is involved with BioShock 2, series creator Ken Levine is primarily focused on a new, unnamed title, rumored to be an X-Com remake or sequel.

By Tor Thorsen