Where is Judas? That’s the question BioShock creator Ken Levine keeps getting asked. On Wednesday he took to the PlayStation Blog to tell players he still doesn’t have an answer. “While we wish we could give you an exact date today, we’re not quite ready to finalize that,” he writes, though he does offer some other details.
His new “lo-fi” dev log explains that Judas has no set villain. NPCs called the “Big 3” will share secrets with you, give you quests, and talk shit about the others. Depending on who you engage with and how, one of characters will be elevated into the game’s main antagonist, unlocking additional powers with which to hamper your journey in the process.
“In Judas, you’re going to get to know these characters intimately,” Levine writes. “We want losing one of them to feel like losing a friend. We want to play with that dynamic, and we want that choice to be super hard. The Big 3 are all going to be competing for your favor and attention. They can bribe you, save you in battle, talk shit about the other characters, and share with you their darkest secrets. But eventually, you’ve got to decide who you trust and who you don’t.”
Credit: Ghost Story Games
Ghost Story Games, the studio making Judas, also revealed the game’s key art. It includes the Big 3, killer robots, and ’80s iconography like floppy disks, cassette tapes, and an Atari-esque game stick. Levine confirmed the game recently held a closed playtest and will likely feature over 100 speaking roles by the time it’s complete. He also teased that the key art is intended as more than just an homage to the work of movie poster artist Drew Struzan. “Let’s just say there’s some stuff in this game that we’re not going to talk about right now, but everything here is relevant,” Levine writes.
Despite its already lengthy development cycle, with early elements teased as far back as 2015 and a reveal trailer at The Game Awards 2022, Judas seems unlikely to be launching anytime soon. I’d peg it for a fall 2026 release at the earliest, though spring 2027 seems like a better bet. “As you know, release dates have a way of slipping by, and we’d like to avoid having to change the date after we announce it,” Levine writes.
The director’s infamously difficult production style and the high turnover at his current studio probably haven’t helped. Can Judas live up to all of the procedural narrative ambition Levine is promising? Will it still manage to come out before BioShock 4? We still have way more questions than answers.
