Could we finally be getting close to playing Judas? According to a new interview with creator Ken Levine, development appears to be entering its final stages — although he remains frustratingly vague on exactly when players can expect to get their hands on it.
Speaking during a recent interview with IGN, Levine discussed everything from perfectionism in game development to why Judas has taken so long to make. While no release date or window was revealed, he repeatedly suggested the project is now approaching the finish line.
Discussing the challenges of perfectionism, Levine admitted that developers eventually have to accept that not every tiny detail can receive endless attention.
“You do have to realize that sometimes the standards you have for every single thing can’t be up here because people aren’t going to notice.”
He tied that directly to Judas’ current development stage, adding that the team is now deep in the process of finalising the game.
“We’re getting now to the point in Judas where we’re getting towards that end process… trying to finish the game.”
Levine explained that as launch approaches, he’s increasingly having to sign off on features rather than endlessly refining them.
“As the game gets closer to ship, you have to develop that skill set because eventually you have to sign off on things.”
As for why development has taken so long, Levine joked that the team “kissed a lot of frogs along the way,” explaining that much of the time has been spent reworking the game’s story and systemic framework rather than chasing cutting-edge visuals.
That effort, he says, is aimed at making Judas dramatically more reactive than his previous work.
“The result is intended to be way, way, way more replayable than our previous games.”
Levine said the idea stemmed from work on BioShock Infinite, where he imagined a version of the game that could meaningfully react to player behaviour.
“That was the thought that led me to Judas, where you really had to have the game be highly reactive.”
According to Levine, that ambition means players are likely to miss major content on a first playthrough — a design philosophy the team fully embraced.
Judas continues to sound incredibly promising, but I can’t help but wonder if the hype may become too much thanks to the name attached to the game and the lengthy development cycle.
Even if it ends up being unable to live up to expectations, though, I’m still expecting Levine to deliver something awesome.
