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Touching the Spider: A Conversation With Ken Levine | Sacred Symbols+, Episode 295

Please welcome a person who needs no introduction: Ken Levine. Ken was kind enough to join me (Colin) on Sacred Symbols+ for an extensive and wide-ranging conversation, one that touches on his history, his games, his studios, his creative approach, and his mantra as a writer and director. It's been a decade since Mr. Levine has launched a new title; it's hard to believe BioShock is nearly 16 years old, while BioShock Infinite is 10! But in his reclusion boils something new, a game called Judas, a product crafted by a small team that promises to once again turn the narrative potential of our medium on its head. What's been on the mind of one of the industry's great auteurs? What's he been up to? How does he feel about his previous games? And -- perhaps most importantly -- is he bullish or bearish on the prospects of modern storytelling?

Comments

Brian Walsh

Are you kidding me?? Last stand is absolutely going off right now.

Miky Sh

Nooooo way!

Nathan

HOLY SHITTTTT

JoshM

Damn, what a get! Excited to listen to this!

Zack Apuzzo

Literally got chills opening this up

Miky Sh

I’m kinda scared to click on this haha 😅

Robert

Awesome job making this happen Colin!!

Dieter Hoeller

First Punching Up and now this?? WOW!!!

Mitch Orobko

Holy fucking shit.

Maxi Lopez

No fucking way

David Passman

Ya boy, Colin, and everyone at LSM is at the top of their game right now.

Jared Hines

Dude... What a stellar week to be a LSM patron :) Amazing work, and so happy to be apart of the family!

Jesse spivey (edited)

Comment edits

2023-05-17 18:16:52 Yo first new stelly on monday then Tuesday surprise new nintendo show & now this. Has to be one of the strongest weeks in LSM history.
2023-05-17 16:11:25 Yo first new stelly on monday then Tuesday surprise new nintendo show & now this. Has to be one of the strongest weeks in LSM history.

Yo first new stelly on monday then Tuesday surprise new nintendo show & now this. Has to be one of the strongest weeks in LSM history.

DanXcel

This is unbelievable....

Armando

Damn! Awesome content Team LSM

Saint_Allison

We all make choices... and LSM makes the best.

Joe

Holy shit...Last Stand is truly GOATED

Skull King

Amazing week of content, keep it up guys!

Jordan campos

I used to get upset when I finished the weekly LSM content, but now I legitimately can't even keep up. You guys are killing it over here.

Shawn

Are you kidding me….cannot wait.

plzsendpie

LSM doesn't miss

Dick Justice

A conversation between legends, love it!

Sam Locker

I don't often post on here, but man Colin I can't wait to watch this. Fair play sir.

KomakiKhaos

Holy shit you finally did it

Sleep

Damn

Sampo

Holy fuck

Javier Medina

The legend himself, last stand raising the bar over and over again.

il-duce444

A good podcast company releases Punching Up and a Kevin Levine interview a week apart. LSM releases them back to back!

Luke Silletta

Holy shit what a thing to wake up to.

Eric S

Colin, Colin, the word of the day is WOW

Callum Pearce

Wow what an amazing get!! The value on this Patreon is unmatched

Tanner Brant

Best birthday present I could ask for 🥳

Alex Roberts

Dustin was right on Sacred recently when he said we’d be eating good these next few weeks lol

Glentendo

BROOOO. This was so fucking awesome. I don't think I've ever seen an interview this candid with a game dev. Hearing about Ken's mental health issues was heartbreaking but also super cathartic. I could have listened to another 10 hours of this convo. Hats off to you and Ken.

Justin Credible

Bioshock is my favorite game of all time, so this was very special to me. Thank you so much Colin. You’re the doing the lords work out here.

David Hicks

Another example of why Colin is the absolute best in the industry. Thanks for this.

Card Captor Corey

I've never seen ken Levine until now. He looks like Dustin

TheWebslinger

Holy shit LSM just showed the industry how big of a reach they actually have

Ty Simmons

What an awesome surprise, Can’t wait to listen to this.

John Warner (edited)

Comment edits

2023-05-18 02:22:58 Holy shit dude…. You fuckin did it Col-baby! I’ll never stop believing in the power of PlayStation, praise be to the Sacred Symbols. Colin, sons, and holy platinums.
2023-05-17 23:18:57 Holy shit dude…. You fuckin did it Col-baby! I’ll never stop believing in the power of PlayStation, praise be to the Sacred Symbols. Colin, sons, and holy platinums.

Holy shit dude…. You fuckin did it Col-baby! I’ll never stop believing in the power of PlayStation, praise be to the Sacred Symbols. Colin, sons, and holy platinums.

John Warner (edited)

Comment edits

2023-05-18 02:22:55 LSM been hittin so hard this year. Hope you guys are all gettin enough R & R. It really doesn’t need to be this good. Take a week off SS+ for gods sake!
2023-05-17 23:22:46 LSM been hittin so hard this year. Hope you guys are all gettin enough R & R. It really doesn’t need to be this good. Take a week off SS+ for gods sake!

LSM been hittin so hard this year. Hope you guys are all gettin enough R & R. It really doesn’t need to be this good. Take a week off SS+ for gods sake!

Dylan Michael

Thank you Colin and LSM team for the outstanding content.

Mason M

This was inspiring and got me at the right time. I liked how real he was especially how he talked about changing career course at 27. It was nice to get perspective that 27 is not too old for a life change. Rest of the interview was very insightful too!

Dillon Brown

My membership expired but you know I had to rejoin for this awesomeness

Wes Baldwin

Man this was a fantastic and really personal interview from Ken. What a good man! I am happy he moved past his issues during Infinite. And of course another common W of an interview from the LI Viper! Cheers!

John Tom Black

Holy smokes, the legend himself

omar del rosario

another Pete Alonso homerun by colin and LSM team bravo.

James Pies

Just wow. Great stuff. Perfect episode title as well. Learned a lot here. So much wisdom bounced off both of you. This was a real treat Colin, thank you.

Daniel

Congratulations on the best week since CLS’/LSM’s founding. Very impressive new schedule, great casts across podcasts. 10/10 - the chicken has earned some rest.

Connor Hayes

This was an incredible interview, thank you Colin for setting this up! Ken is such a fascinating creater and it's a blessing to hear from him after so long.

Evan Westendorf

I love how Levine is so insistent that his games pass through so much playtesting. He could teach Microsoft a thing or two, if the reaction to something like Redfall is anything to go off of.

Mr. Plow

This was sick

Eebo85

THIS is just one more reason as to why Last Stand is the only Patreon I pay for. Bravo team, this content is incredible!

GoldenRupee

Thank you so much for this!

Zeldaholic

I was also a drama major in university. Ken talking about the character work that is supported by the soliloquies that are audio logs immediately took me back to better days of discussing games as performance with one of my favourite professors. When/if this interview goes to public feeds I will definitely be sharing with him as games were always very prevalent in his research projects and I think he would appreciate it!

Brandon Wall

This was so fantastic! Happy to have heard Colin said Ken will return, I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Alit Gusti

I really l, really enjoyed this interview. Very thoughtful questions from Colin and insightful answers from Ken. This is the content I live for. Thank you LSM!

jettxjordan (edited)

Comment edits

2023-05-19 03:55:59 Colin mother fucking Moriarty ! Have to acknowledge this legendary moment as a long time fan of both Ken Levine’s work and the BEYOND days. Thank you Ken for your openness & transparency to share your journey with us, FANS !! You deserve all the praise and your voice in this industry does not go unnoticed. Just turned 30 last week & Bioshock is one of my favorite games of all time and I absolutely cannot wait for Judas🔥!!
2023-05-19 00:27:43 Colin mother fucking Moriarty ! Have to acknowledge this legendary moment as a long time fan of both Ken Levine’s work and the BEYOND days. Thank you Ken for your openness & transparency to share your journey with us, FANS !! You deserve all the praise and your voice in this industry does not go unnoticed. Just turned 30 last week & Bioshock is one of my favorite games of all time and I absolutely cannot wait for Judas🔥!!

Colin mother fucking Moriarty ! Have to acknowledge this legendary moment as a long time fan of both Ken Levine’s work and the BEYOND days. Thank you Ken for your openness & transparency to share your journey with us, FANS !! You deserve all the praise and your voice in this industry does not go unnoticed. Just turned 30 last week & Bioshock is one of my favorite games of all time and I absolutely cannot wait for Judas🔥!!

Chris

wow

Coverpaint

Amazing interview. Thought provoking, intelligent conversation with a great deal of listening from both sides. A true pleasure!

Phara0h

Will you release the "full"/the rest of it after release of his game?

Andres

Colin seemed very desperate to get his analysis/praise of the audio logs as a game design choice validated. He brought it up 3 separate times! Curious how he felt about that when finally in the 3rd instance, Ken revealed that it's from the System Shock games.

Maxx Lazos

Ken Levine on the Judas spoilercast?? 👀

Ryan Daly

Amazing interview Colin. Congrats on one of the best pieces of content LSM has produced to date. Interviews like this are why LSM is a cut above literally anything else out there

Walker Simmons

I am so excited for Judas. Despite the rough development of Bioshock Infinite and the cut content from early demos it is one of my favorite games ever made

somar

incredible

Michael Smith

This was a fantastic interview. Thank you so much for making this

Alex Watson

This was great, nice work. Now let’s get that Amy Hennig interview next!

Wade Says

Legend

Austin Henry

This was awesome, definitely love hearing from the game directors themselves. As an idea for another good conversation id recommend checking out Andrew Klavan. He's an older political/cultural commentator, but has some interesting thoughts on when games are art and when they fall short of the mark. I think it'd be a great conversation to listen to! His recent video on Mario especially was interesting.

Stephen

Will repeat what others have said to proudly state that this was awesome, a super enjoyable conversation, and I can’t wait for a follow up after Judas’s release, thank you Colin! And thanks to Ken Levine!