Upcoming Video Game Seeks to Offer Interactive Bible Story Experience
By Movieguide® Contributor
The upcoming video game, Gate Zero, seeks to bring scripture to life through an interactive story set in 1st-century Israel.
“The game starts out in the year 2072 in the dystopian world of Terrapolis,” a synopsis of the game reads. “You and your cousin Hector receive a cryptic mission from your eccentric late grandmother. She offers the chance to win her whole inheritance if you unlock the secrets of her mysterious ‘pearl.’ You and Hector decide to solve this mystery by going back to the source in his time machine, Gate Zero.”
In an age of short attention spans and low scriptural engagement, the team behind Gate Zero – Bible X – wants to present key Gospel moments in a new, immersive way. They believe the Bible will come to life as players become eyewitnesses to the miracles that Jesus performed and take in the sights and sounds of 1st-century Israel along the way.
“We really want to dive into creating a game for the younger generation to be able to experience Jesus and to be able to get familiar with the stories and events from the Bible,” game designer Arve Solli told Faithwire.
“We believe that the younger generation [needs to get] familiar with the Bible,” he said. “They need to be able to understand on what ground they are taking the decisions, so we see the gaming medium as a really effective way of giving them context, telling the stories and also interacting with the stories and events, so… they are able to understand the significance of the message that Jesus came with.”
“This game might be the only Bible some people read,” Solli added. Because of this, the team is serious about making the game biblically accurate and works closely with biblical scholars to ensure respect for the source material is maintained.
The project started in 2019 as the Bible X team worked on a virtual 3D model of the Second Temple in Jerusalem as a bible study tool. The model was meant to be used at an Easter event in 2020, but the coronavirus put those plans on hold.
With billions of people around the world told to stay home, the idea to morph their 3D model into a full-fledged game started to form. It was born out of a desperate need to convey the Bible’s message in a way that is digestible for today’s youth.
The game allows players to play on their own or with others using their CoPlay mode. When playing solo, players can interact with Gospel stories or freely roam through 1st-century Israel, discovering the culture of that time and experiencing a society on the brink of upheaval.
The CoPlay mode allows everyone to get in on the fun by connecting their phones to the game. Mobile players can control various elements in-game to help the main character complete a task, participate in side missions that allow for multiple players, and help the main character solve riddles.
The Bible X team is currently working on the first of four releases for the game. Each release will bring the player through different parts of Jesus’ ministry. The first release will focus on the earlier parts of the Gospel story.
With over 2.5 billion people engaging with video games every day, Gate Zero has the potential to impact countless lives. Fans of the game certainly see the potential, as the game reached its goal of $218,121 on Kickstarter only 79 hours after their page went up.
The game is currently planned to release on PC by the end of 2024, with potential Xbox and PlayStation ports depending on how much money the project can raise.
Movieguide® previously reported on video games:
In 2020, the gaming industrygrossed $180 billionin revenues. That was more than the global movie industry from the previous year ($100 billion) and all North American sports ($75 billion) combined. The high industry numberscontinued in 2021 and 2022with gaming grossing $192.3 billion and $184.4 billion respectively. Roughly half of 2022’s revenue came from mobile gaming, while PC and console games brought in the rest.
A large component of the high revenue comes from the structure of the industry being heavily based on a buy-to-own model rather than the subscription renting models used by other types of media industries. However, gaming console leaders Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation do offer subscription services that provide players access to a content library with hundreds of games.
PlayStation’s service, PlayStation Plus,leads the way in subscriber countwith 45.4 million subscribers. Nintendo’s Nintendo Online follows with 36 million subscribers. Xbox comes in last with 25 million subscribers for its Xbox Game Pass service.
Though PlayStation’s 45.4 million subscribers may seem meager when compared with Netflix’s roughly 209 million user count, the subscriber numbers are surprisingly comparable to those of other well-known streaming services. Hulu currently has 39.4 million paying subscribers, Peacock has 28 million subscribers, and Apple TV has roughly 40 million subscribers.
It is clear that the video game industry is a giant force in the global market; it controls a much larger space in the media world than many would imagine. The enormous size of the industry’s consumer base explains why video games are starting to appear in other forms of media.
