BioShock Creator’s “Judas” will release by March 2025
by Danny Craig · 2/8/23, 3:50 PM
Take-Two Interactive
CEO of Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, has confirmed that Ghost Story Games’ Judas will be released at the end of Q1 2025.
The details:
- Judas, Ghost Story Games' debut title, was revealed at The Game Awards in December. Ken Levine, who previously created the BioShock franchise with his now-rebranded studio, Irrational Games, is in charge of the game's development. The game, like BioShock, has an Americana style, with deranged characters and lightning bolts cast from the player's hands.
- During an earnings call on February 6, Take-Two stated that it plans to release 87 games between 2023 and the end of the fiscal year 2024-25 in March 2025. Despite the fact that no specific titles were mentioned, IGN asked Zelnick to see if Judas was one of the 87 projects that would be released, and the CEO responded with a “yes.”
- The possibility of a delay is always on the minds of players, especially in light of recent industry events. Fortunately, when asked about delays to any of the 87 projects, Zelnick confirmed that, while the possibility of delays exists, the publisher is "confident" in the release schedule. Judas was reported to be in "development hell" in early 2022, with its original release date going all the way back to 2017. After multiple changes in direction, Levine reportedly scrapped large portions of the project, and his alleged poor management caused the game's top producer to leave the studio. Now that the game has been revealed, we can safely assume that there will be no more significant changes in the future.
What else is happening at Take-Two?
- Zelnick has stated that Take-Two would be implementing a "cost-reduction program" in direct response to underwhelming sales figures from its high-profile releases in the last quarter. The program aims to save the publisher $50 million USD, though "any kind of broad-based reduction in force" isn’t expected by the company.
- During his interview with IGN, Zelnick was asked about the company's reaction to last year's Grand Theft Auto 6 leak. While the business was reportedly unaffected, he claimed it had an emotional and personal impact on the development team, adding, "It's really frustrating and upsetting to the team." The leak appeared on the GTA Forums site and seemed to show a working version of the game, with Rockstar confirming that the footage was genuine. The FBI later became involved in the investigation.