Judasis a hotly anticipated, enigmatic project from Ken Levine, the developer best known for the creation of theBioShockfranchise. Worth noting is that, as one of the most influential games of its era,BioShockcertainly leaves behind some big shoes forJudasto fill. With any luck,Judaswill live up to these high expectations.
Judaswas initially expected to release in March 2025. With that window officially closing, many are hoping that it will be released at some other time this year.
But it’s not justBioShockthatJudasis going up against: 2025 is an especially packed year for games, and there seems to be an oddly high concentration of science-fiction-laden horror experiences in the mix. Bloober Team, the studio behind last year’swell-regardedSilent Hill 2remake, is launching the intriguingCronos: The New Dawnat some point in 2025, and Supermassive Games is hard at work on the paranoia-fueledDirective 8020. These are two of 2025’s most notable sci-fi-horror projects, but even games likeDeath Stranding 2andHell Is Uscould be reasonably slotted into the subgenre, presentingJudaswith some stiff competition indeed.
Judas Will Be an Interesting Choice Amidst So Many Other Sci-Fi-Horror Games in 2025
Judas Slots Nicely Into the Sci-Fi-Horror Space
Judas' premise may sound vaguely familiarto those already acquainted with Levine’s previous work. Taking place aboard the Mayflower, a massive space hauler carrying the final remnants of human civilization,Judasfollows the titular heroine as she attempts to break free from the ship’s robot-driven, tyrannical social conditioning. During her journey, Judas will need to navigate her relationships with the Mayflower’s three leaders, all of whom have radically different visions for humanity’s future:
Through these philosophically distinct characters, and the Mayflower’s uncanny valley, retro-future, deadly automatons,Judascould very well evoke some of its own sci-fi-fueled scares, putting it in conversation with the aforementioned horror games coming out this year. Though he pivoted away from such genre tendencies withBioShock Infinite, Levine himself has exhibited a penchant for horror themes inBioShockandSystem Shock, making theirprominence inJudasseem even more likely.
How Judas Can Stand Out Against Other Sci-Fi Horror Games In 2025
Judasmight not have the same fear factor as capital-H Horror games likeCronos: The New Dawn, but it could very well excel in a particular niche: existential horror. The three ideologically opposed characters atthe heart ofJudas' narrativecertainly have the potential to provide powerful philosophical fodder, and if handled correctly, this high-concept narrative content could be quite unsettling indeed. Tom, Nefertiti, and Hope all propose incompatible visions for humanity, and while Nefertiti’s radical transhumanism and Hope’s extreme nihilism are the most obviously disturbing, Tom’s worldview might not be sunshine-and-rainbows either; his ostensible desire to maintain tradition could illuminate humanity’s folly, exposing how the species longs to uphold a past that may never have existed.
In his previous projects, Levine has explored such heady topics as religion, free will, communism, and objectivism, so there’s little reason to believe thatJudaswill be much different. Delving into these concepts has the potential to result in stuffy, overly academic storytelling, but Levine has managed to avoid these pitfalls, tying analysis of such subjects to emotional narrative beats and evocative world design. Assuming he does the same with his next project,Judashas the possibility to be uniquely unnerving, thought-provoking, and terrifying.
Judas
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Judas is a sci-fi first-person shooter game made by BioShock creator Ken Levine that’s set on a massive spaceship called the Mayflower.
