Where Is Judas, the Upcoming First-Person Shooter From BioShock Creator Ken Levine?

If it feels like we’ve been waiting forever for BioShock creator Ken Levine’s next game, Judas, it’s because we have. Episode Two of BioShock Infinite‘s Burial at Sea DLC concluded the game’s story on March 25, 2014, and since then, Levine’s continued legacy has been hanging in the balance, stuck somewhere between BioShock and Judas. To top it all off, the upcoming FPS was revealed at the 2022 Game Awards, and in classic Hollow Knight: Silksong-like fashion, it has yet to arrive, despite finding some time here and there to surface in a very limited, conversation-oriented way. But if that means Judas still exists, then after over three years of waiting since its reveal, where in the world is it?

The truth is, no one knows right now but Levine himself, and there’s a real possibility that even he doesn’t have an answer worth giving yet. To be fair, there’s a lot riding on Judas, considering it will be his first full game since BioShock Infinite, and in light of how complex the FPS seems to be, there’s no minimum on time or patience until the game is both complete and works as intended. Ghost Story Games has described Judas as being built around a “dynamic narrative,” with characters who respond to even small player choices, which may explain why it has spent so long in development. Still, that only makes the wait easier to understand, not easier to ignore, especially when Judas has resurfaced just enough to prove it hasn’t vanished while still remaining officially without a release date.

Judas Waiting Room Playlist

Ken Levine’s Judas is still missing-in-action, but expectant gamers can check out these alternative experiences in the meantime.

Judas Exists, But That’s About It

Judas isn’t missing in the sense that Ghost Story Games has stopped talking about it, but it also isn’t close enough to launch for anyone to say much with certainty. The game has a confirmed premise, platforms, trailers, hands-on previews, and multiple developer updates, including a 2025 breakdown of Judas‘ Villainy system and a later explanation of its “dynamic narrative” (frequently referred to as “narrative LEGO”) design, which Ghost Story says took years to figure out on a systemic level. Even so, its release date is still listed as TBA, leaving Judas in that strange space where it clearly exists, but mostly as a collection of promises and carefully spaced updates rather than a game with a firm place on the calendar.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Timeline of Judas’ Development

2014 – Irrational Games is wound down, and Ken Levine begins pursuing a smaller, more experimental narrative-game vision.
2017 – Ghost Story Games is formally introduced as Levine’s new Take-Two studio.
DECEMBER 2022 – Judas is officially revealed at The Game Awards as a single-player narrative FPS for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
FEBRUARY 2023 – Take-Two suggests Judas is planned to release by March 2025.
JANUARY 2024 – Judas gets a new story trailer during PlayStation’s State of Play.
MARCH 2024 – Select outlets and creators play several hours of Judas at Ghost Story Games.
MARCH 2025 – The earlier expected release window passes without launch.
AUGUST 2025 – Ghost Story resurfaces with Dev Log #1, revealing the “Villainy” system, where player actions determine which major character becomes the villain.
DECEMBER 2025 – Dev Log #2 explains Judas‘ “dynamic narrative” system, which Ghost Story says took years to solve.
FEBRUARY 2026 – Take-Two still lists Judas for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, but with a TBA release date.

With Judas having been confirmed by Take-Two in February this year, just a few months ago, it is, at the very least, still real. But Levine has also continued to bring the game up, if not just to ensure it doesn’t fade into the background. In a recent interview with IGN, for example, he explained why the game has taken so long to develop, and that ultimately comes down to Ghost Story’s vision for a narrative that fully reacts to the player’s decisions.

Ghost Story Is Building Judas Around a Highly Reactive Narrative

“The reason it took so long is not really related to rendering technology or anything like that,” Levine said in the interview. “It was figuring out how we crafted the system, this narrative LEGO system that is combining modular elements together dynamically at runtime to make stories happen that are very reactive to the player.” Of course, that might explain why it has taken so long since the work on Judas began, but why years continued to pass after its formal Game Awards reveal could be a different story.

Chances are, however, it’s not. If anything, Judas‘ post-reveal silence makes more sense when considering what Ghost Story is actually trying to build. Levine’s “narrative LEGO” system means the game has to recognize what the player is doing, what order they are doing it in, how the major characters feel about it, and how those characters should respond in ways that still feel authored rather than random. It already took them “years,” according to Levine, just to figure out how to make that work, but putting it into practice is an entirely different ballgame. It’s a very different problem from writing a strong story, recording dialogue, and placing it along a mostly fixed path. Instead, it’s a problem of making the story flexible without letting it fall apart.

If anything, Judas‘ post-reveal silence makes more sense when considering what Ghost Story is actually trying to build.

That likely becomes even more complicated with Judas‘ Villainy system, where the player’s actions can determine which major character becomes the villain. In theory, that means Ghost Story has to account for several different emotional states, alliances, rivalries, betrayals, and gameplay consequences without making any version of the story feel like the lesser path. One character might help Judas in battle, another might bribe her, another might turn on her, and all of that has to connect back to the player’s history with them in a way that feels readable.

All of that sounds exciting, sure, but it also sounds like an infinitely tall Jenga tower that can collapse at any minute, should a single piece be out of place. And that problem is bound to get increasingly complex over time as newer pieces are added. Each new piece affects the rest, leaving the team to decide what is worth keeping around and what isn’t, and that can potentially lead to entire reworks. So, while Judas missing its earlier expected window is undoubtedly frustrating, its delay may ultimately come down to the same thing that makes it interesting in the first place. Ghost Story is trying to make a first-person shooter game where the story isn’t simply told to the player but is constantly rearranged around them.

For Now, It’s Best to Let Judas Do Its Thing

For now, Judas is still more of a question than a known quantity, and that might be the safest way to view it. Ghost Story Games has revealed enough to make the game sound ambitious, but ambition is only part of the equation. Levine has said the game’s long development is tied to its “narrative LEGO” system, which dynamically combines modular story elements around the player’s choices, so rushing it out before that design fully works would defeat the purpose of the entire project.

That makes Judas frustrating to wait for, but it also makes it harder to argue that Ghost Story should simply hurry up and release it. If the whole point of Judas is to make its story feel reactive in a way Ken Levine’s previous games never were, then the game needs room to prove that idea can actually hold together. Until there is a firm release date, Judas will remain stuck between mystery and proof, but at least it still exists. After all, it could be worse.