Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment’s digital retail store, today announced that 2K’s highly anticipated first-person shooter BioShock, is now available for pre-order and will be available for digital download in conjunction with the game’s North America retail release on August 21 and European release on August 24. BioShock will be available via Direct2Drive both in North America and the UK.

BioShock is a first-person shooter that lets players do things never before possible in the genre. Nearly everything in the game can be turned into a weapon; players can biologically modify their bodies with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade weapons, craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques. With multiple avenues for surmounting challenges, no encounter ever plays out the same and no two gamers will play BioShock the same way.

“BioShock is a highly anticipated, award-winning title that we are proud to make available immediately to gaming enthusiasts on Direct2Drive,” said Jamie Berger, SVP Consumer Products & Technology for IGN Entertainment. “This is an incredible title to add to our leading library of content and we’re excited to make it available to gamers online on the same day and date that they can buy it in retail stores.”

At this year’s E3, BioShock garnered top honors from both IGN and GameSpy, including winning the “Best PC Game” category on both gaming sites. It was also awarded top honors in IGN’s “Best Artistic Design” category and GameSpy’s “Xbox 360 Game of Show” and “Best of Show” categories. Additionally, it received Runner-Up accolades in IGN’s “Best First-Person Shooter” category and was nominated in IGN’s “Overall Game of the Show” category.

Since launching in October 2004, Direct2Drive has allowed gamers to conveniently purchase and download the latest premium games from the world’s top publishers. Through this recent partnership with 2K Games, Direct2Drive continues to achieve its goal to provide users a one-stop shop to find digital content from the broadest selection of premium gaming franchises and publishers.

[tags]bioshock, first person shooter, fps[/tags]