Ghost Story Games

Ghost Story Games, LLC

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	February 22, 2017 (2017-02-22) in Westwood, Massachusetts, United States
Founder	Ken Levine
Headquarters	Westwood, Massachusetts , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Ken Levine (president and creative director)
Products	Judas (upcoming game)
Owner	Take-Two Interactive
Number of employees	25 (2017)
Parent	Take-Two Interactive

Ghost Story Games, LLC is a video game development company located in Westwood, Massachusetts, led by industry veteran Ken Levine. This studio emerged as a rebranding of Irrational Games in February 2017. While remaining a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, the rebranding signified a renewed focus on emergent, narrative-centric games, distinct from the larger-scale productions previously created under the Irrational name.

History

Irrational Games built its reputation through acclaimed titles such as BioShock and BioShock Infinite, both projects directed by Levine. Following the release of BioShock Infinite, Levine opted to considerably reduce the studio’s size, aiming for a more compact team with a flatter organizational structure and stronger engagement with players. Rather than establishing a new independent company, Take-Two persuaded Levine to maintain the studio within its corporate structure. On February 18, 2014, the studio underwent a major restructuring: Levine retained approximately 15 staff members while Take-Two, 2K Games, and Irrational helped the remaining 75 employees transition to other roles. Although effectively downsized, Irrational sporadically hired new personnel in subsequent years.

In October 2016, Take-Two registered a trademark for "Ghost Story," hinting at an upcoming strategic shift. The official rebranding to Ghost Story Games was announced on February 22, 2017, positioning it as a new entity formed by 12 former Irrational members with Levine serving as president and creative director. The company’s mission centers on delivering immersive narrative experiences aimed at core gamers; its name draws inspiration from the communal and immersive qualities characteristic of traditional ghost stories. At launch, Ghost Story Games employed roughly 25 people.

At the 2014 Game Developers Conference, Levine presented his concept of "narrative Legos," which breaks down storytelling into modular elements that facilitate player-driven, non-linear narratives with significant replay value. In January 2015, he disclosed that their initial project would be a "first-person sci-fi" title. By March 2017, Levine elaborated that this game integrated mechanics inspired by the Nemesis System from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, enabling a meta-narrative that programmatically adapts to player choices—offering an alternative to branching storylines commonly seen in games by Telltale Games. He also highlighted that this project would present greater challenges than previous works by encouraging players to learn gameplay mechanics through exploration rather than direct tutorials.

By early 2022, according to Bloomberg News, development of the studio’s inaugural game had experienced significant delays and setbacks over at least seven years. Reports attributed these difficulties to multiple restarts and shifts in creative direction influenced by Levine’s leadership approach, which reportedly contributed to staff burnout.

The studio revealed its first game, Judas, during The Game Awards 2022. It is slated for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows platforms within Take-Two’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2025.