There is no doubt that Ken Levine is one of the few “artists” left in video games. He proved this with System Shock 2 and did it again in the BioShock franchise, with the only exception being the second game in the trilogy.
More than 10 years after BioShock Infinite, the creative is back with Judas, his new first-person action game. It would be released in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PCbut it was postponed to 2026.
Levine has already revealed details of the three villains, the importance of the decisions the player makes, and also states that Judas It is the “most radical change” of his career since the first BioShock.
Now the director of Ghost Story Games (his development studio) decides to focus (via PlayStation Blog) on Judas, the protagonist of your new gamepresenting unusual origins for a character.
It turns out that Judas (the game) is not a narrative FPS per se, but rather a ”Judas simulator” (sorry for the redundancy), as the player will feel like they are the protagonist and everything that happens on the Mayflower.
”Judas, as he became known, understands machines in a way he has never been able to understand people. This became his greatest strength… and his greatest weakness.”.
The central axis of the Mayflower, much more than Rapture and Columbia
Judas is much more than a main character. We could say that the whole game revolves around her, how she interacts with the world around herwhich is why Levine believes he is “a Judas simulator.”
The essence of Judas is that the player interacts with the inhabitants of the Mayflower (the huge space colony where the game takes place), and make a series of decisions that influence the dynamic narrative.
”The project began with our desire to tell stories that were less linear, that responded to the player, and developed in ways never before seen in Ken games.” says narrative designer Drew Mitchell.
Regarding the Mayflower, the setting where the adventure takes place, the Ghost Story Games team comments that is a dynamic location that presents new challenges to playersgood is constantly expanding.
”Where I think Judas differs most from BioShock or BioShock Infinite is precisely in the name. The game is named after him. Booker and Jack were strangers in a strange land, just like the player. Jude is originally from the Mayflower. In fact, he is at the center of the events that begin the story.”.
The massive colonial ship has just about everything from VIP accommodations to regular rooms to a “descent into hell” to reach the lowest layers (in every sense) of the Mayflower.
”With the Mayflower as a generational spacecraft, we want to imbue this world with the same sense of time, history, and credibility; This is a civilization that has gone through times of conflict and rebirth. And having the characters and world architecture reflect these layers of the onion is a powerful mechanism for visual storytelling.” says artistic director Nathan Phail-Liff.
Judas intends to be one of the most ambitious games of 2026So get ready for the epic that Ken Levine and Ghost Story Games are preparing for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.