Judas is spending a long time cooking in the kitchen, but with Ken Levine’s excellent track record for storytelling and game development, it’s likely worth the wait. The visionary who masterminded the Bioshock series has weighed in on single-player gaming and how he hopes Judas will be rewarded by players.
Bioshock is a series worthy of any gaming Mt. Rushmore. From Rapture to Columbia, its legacy will last forever. Ken Levine has moved on from the franchise and is back with new studio Ghost Story Games and its debut game—Judas.
Judas Creator Ken Levine Says You “Get The Whole Thing”
In an interview via the Nightdive Studios YouTube channel, Levine said: “Judas is a very old-school game. You buy the game, and you get the whole thing. There’s no online component, there’s no live service, because everything we do is in service of telling the story and transporting the player.”
It feels ludicrous in many ways that Levine had to explain this about Judas. In 2025, though, game releases are as complex as ever. The days of a game coming out and that’s it are long gone. There are updates, patches, DLC, roadmaps, and so much more to consider now—especially microtransactions.
He didn’t wish ill will toward anyone who goes down these avenues: “This is no diss on any developers who have done that, because look, games are expensive to make.”
Levine also said single-player games, including The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 “Are really traditional single-player games, and they don’t have that kind of monetization in them, and I think the audiences reward those games.”
Judas was originally scheduled for release in 2025. This window is getting pushed back with every month, but fingers crossed we get to explore the Mayflower sooner rather than later.
What do you look for most in games nowadays? Do you want the new live-service title to sink hours into? Or is your heart stolen away by expertly crafted single-player titles? Share your thoughts through the Insider Gaming forum.
IG has plenty of other news I advise you to read about. There’s the oddity of Randy Pitchford revealing the whole Borderlands 4 map & its 200 hidden collectible locations, and the budget Zombie survival game that’s hit 2000% growth on Steam.
