The debut title from Just Cause developer Christofer Sundberg’s new studio Liquid Swords launches this week, and the launch trailer has arrived. The game is called Samson: A Tyndalston Story, and at a glance, it looks like Grand Theft Auto without guns.
The $25 game has players taking on the role of Samson, a man who “learned violence before he learned mercy.” The game has a debt system where Samson must pay off mobsters after a heist goes badly, and his sister is being held for collateral. Players have a payment quota, and deadlines to meet, with the debt interest growing if missions are unsuccessful.
Samson can earn more than 25 upgrades to improve his brawling and driving skills. The game does not give Samson any guns, but he can drive weaponized cars to get jobs done. The game has multiple open-world districts and NPCs that remember your past behavior.
Samson launches on April 8 through Steam and the Epic Games Store. Liquid Swords developed and is publishing the game. There is a $30 Supporter Edition as well, and it comes with digital extras like wallpapers, the soundtrack, concept art, and a 3D printable version of Samson. The game has not been announced for console, but GameSpot has reached out to the team to ask about it.
Samson launch times
April 8
- 6 AM PT
- 9 AM ET
- 3 PM CEST
- 10 PM JST
Liquid Swords describes itself as a “no-nonsense” game studio, with Sundberg saying modern game development has become overwhelmed by “distractions that affect quality and motivation.”
Upheaval at Liquid Swords and GTA comparisons
In February 2025, Liquid Swords laid off staff in a move that Sunberg said was necessary to ensure the developer’s “long-term stability.” Liquid Swords was founded in 2022 after Sundberg left Just Cause studio Avalanche.
Liquid Swords laid off half the development team, Sundberg told PC Gamer, and this resulted in the studio needing to pare back its vision for Samson. “We just shelved those features and saved them for the next game, depending on the success of this,” Sundberg said. “So a lot of those more heavy RPG systems sit there waiting to get back into the game. Maybe for a sequel, or for post-launch–I don’t know, really.”
As for the comparisons to Rockstar’s GTA series, Sundberg said people may love GTA, but they may not want to play it forever and ever; that’s where Samson could find its place.
“There are times when you want to put GTA down and pick up something else,” Sundberg said. “And so I see Samson as being like back in the day when action movies were 90 minutes long, not over two hours. I keep on going back to watching Die Hard and Ronin and First Blood and Rambo. I think there’s a space for us there, and that’s where I want to end up.”