Bioshock and Judas creator praises “traditional” games with no online components and live-service

Bioshock and Judas creator Ken Levine has opened up about wanting to see more of the types of games he likes to play, and hoping that he’s achieved that with Judas. Levine doesn’t disavow games that have what he calls an “ulterior motive,” but believes the old-school single-player focus is what audiences always reward.

In a conversation with Nightdive Studios (thanks, GamesRadar), Levine spoke about making the types of games he loves to play. “I just want to have an experience with a game, and have that game be – all it wants to do is entertain me,” he said. “It’s got no other ulterior motives.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njzERtlBcB0/

Levine acknowledges it’s a “difficult time” in this industry, also saying he’s not dissing any developers who add in monetisation elements as everyone’s got to make a living. But, he does also say that the industry has somewhat “unwisely” focused on these elements. “If you look at the games that have really landed in the last couple of years, whether it’s Baldur’s Gate or Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Clair Obscur … or even Cyberpunk or The Witcher, these are games that are really traditional single-player and they don’t have that kind of monetisation in them, and I think the audience has rewarded those games.”

Of course, we still see games with monetisation elements do well, but it does seem like despite arguments against single-player in the past decade or so, there are plenty of gamers still wanting a more traditional experience.

Judas is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.