Ken Levine, the man lauded for delivering some of the finest narratives in the industry with his BioShock series, is back. He is currently helming Ghost Story Games, his newly formed studio, to craft their debut title, Judas. The team isn't just calling it an FPS; they've dubbed it a 'Judas Simulator', promising a story that shifts dynamically based on your own choices.

You can dig into the fine print via the developer note posted on the official Judas website on December 2nd (local time). It features Levine and his key staff detailing the project. The game is an FPS where you play as an engineer attempting to escape a spaceship bound for a new planet after the Earth has met its end. You’ll be juggling alliances with three onboard leaders, and yes, there is a roguelite twist: die, and you are redesigned and respawned.

In this latest update, the team hammered home the 'Judas Simulator' concept to highlight how the narrative ripples out from your decisions. "Judas understands machines differently than your average person. That’s both her greatest strength and a fatal flaw," Levine explains. "We placed her in this sci-fi world—a ship teeming with robots. It’s a place where someone like her could be incredibly powerful. But it’s also a place where success hinges on how well you follow the rules. That’s why she became an outlaw, a castaway, a Judas."

As an engineer, Judas is brilliant with machinery but finds human relationships a bit of a labyrinth. Despite this, she must throw her lot in with one of the three ship leaders. Levine notes, "The tension at the core of her character shapes everything in the game. That’s why we call it a 'Judas Simulator'. It all boils down to the core idea of being Judas and interacting with the world."

Senior narrative designer Drew Mitchell adds, "We wanted to craft a non-linear, reactive story unlike anything you’ve seen before. The biggest shift from BioShock is that the game is named after its protagonist. Booker and Jack were outsiders in a strange land, but Judas was born on the Mayflower. She shares a history with this world and its inhabitants, and let’s just say, most of it is pretty grim. Her journey is about much more than just abandoning a sinking ship; we’re giving players countless ways to define her path."

The stage for all this is the Mayflower, a massive vessel that has been drifting for decades. The developers have previously described Judas as an open-world roguelite built on procedural generation, and that open world is the ship itself. Levine explains that the ship’s design elements will shift and rearrange based on the player’s choices.

Lead artist Karen Segars elaborates: "We trained the system to populate the world with convincing elements using a sophisticated set of tags and rules. For example, living spaces are categorized into VIP pilgrim quarters, standard dorms, and defector quarters. The art team builds the assets, while the design team analyzes how these elements can weave into various layouts that support gameplay while staying on-theme. You have to understand the hierarchy of content to connect it in a way that reinforces the storytelling."

Take the VIP quarters, for instance—lavish, grand spaces with high ceilings, sweeping windows, and sprawling lobbies. In contrast, the defector areas are tucked away in the grimy bowels of the ship, accessible only through what the team calls the 'stairs to hell'.

All this suggests an open world that procedurally stitches together spaces to match your specific narrative choices. Segars puts it best: "We set out on the challenge of teaching the system how to be both a storyteller and an interior designer."

The real question is what kind of story will emerge from this cocktail of shifting ship layouts and a protagonist deeply entangled with her environment. Judas was originally slated for release before March of this year, but the date has since slipped. A new release window has yet to be announced.