Blaze News original: Game industry veteran canceled for pro-life views helping Christian developer launch biblical blockbuster



Game developer Bible X, an Oslo-based game studio founded in 2020 as part of BCC media, is developing a semi-open world video game set in ancient Israel that is sure to generate major waves in an industry valued at over $240 billion.

While Gate Zero has multiple distinguishing features, what primarily sets it apart from other titles in the historical adventure genre is that it centers on the most important story worth telling: that of a certain Nazarene whose life, death, and resurrection forever changed the fate of mankind and serve as a reference point by which all nations still mark the years of lesser events.

'I truly believe this game can and likely will be one of the biggest things for spreading the gospel — maybe not just only this game, but the start of what this game is doing — since the printing press.'

Gate Zero is hardly the first faith-based game. However, its developers are set on making it the first proper Christian blockbuster — accomplishing for the medium what "The Chosen" and "The Passion of the Christ" managed for TV and film, respectively.

Blaze News discussed the project with Bible X's head of studio and game designer Arve Solli last year and previewed a compelling prototype of the game, which was then touted as an opportunity to "travel back in time to explore ancient Israel, interact with Gospel stories, and examine the deeper meaning of Jesus' words."

In the months since, Bible X has made several bold moves to maximize quality and impact, including the onboarding of John Gibson, an industry veteran who stepped down as CEO of Tripwire Interactive after radicals targeted him for ruin and exile in 2021 over his support for the unborn.

Solli and Gibson spoke to Blaze News this week about mainstreaming the Bible in the video game industry, the current state of the game, Bible X's fundraising efforts stateside, and remaining obstacles.

From exile to Bible X

Bible X announced in January that Gibson had joined the team as executive game consultant.

Gibson indicated that while the opportunity was providential, his path to accept it was anything but smooth or direct.

"It was kind of funny. Every time I opened social media, I was seeing ads for the game Gate Zero. It was like God was tapping me on the shoulder saying, 'You should check this out.' And I kept ignoring it and ignoring it," said Gibson.

Finally, he relented and messaged the company, noting, "I'm John Gibson. I've been developing games for a while. If any of my experience is valuable, I'd be happy to contribute."

Gibson boasts decades of experience, having worn many hats while leading Tripwire, a Georgia-based video game company he co-founded in 2005, which has sold tens of millions of games. He brought multiple well-received titles to market, including Maneater, Chivalry 2, and Rising Storm, as well as the Red Orchestra and Killing Floor franchises.

Gibson recalled that "Arve responded and said, 'I hope you don't mind me saying this: we've been praying for someone like you to come along.'"

Tragedy and misfortune had evidently primed Gibson to lean into the moment.

"I took a break from games for a while," he told Blaze News. "Just to be candid, it was a very difficult thing that I went through. … One of the things I haven't said on Tucker Carlson or some of those interviews, I don't believe, is that almost five family members — right after that whole crisis happened — including my mother at 66 years old, and my little sister at 44, just back to back to back every couple of weeks, somebody died, and it was traumatic."

Blaze News previously reported that after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block Texas’ pro-life heartbeat law, Gibson tweeted, "Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don't get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer."

Gibson told Blaze News that he had seen many of his peers in the industry condemning the law but no one daring to laud it.

"I wasn't trying to go on a big crusade," said Gibson. "But apparently I properly combined uranium to create a nuclear explosion on Twitter."

Not only was he viciously attacked online, but at least one company that conducted business with Tripwire — Shipwright — announced it was canceling all existing contracts with his company.

Various other outfits piled on, making sure to let everyone else know they disagreed with the gaming veteran's opinion and that they supported abortion.

In a statement indicating that Gibson had stepped down as CEO just over two days later, the company he co-founded even apologized on his behalf.

When asked whether he felt a little bit like Job — whether this bout of misfortune was a test of his faith — Gibson told Blaze News, "It was a crisis for me because I’m a fighter and a person of action. And when this all went down, and I get a lot of pushback from other conservatives and believers on this, but my initial reaction was to fight."

Gibson indicated that after his unceremonious exit from Tripwire, he hired one of President Donald Trump's former attorneys, intending to go on the legal warpath.

"I'm like, 'Let’s go. You want to fight? You're going to have one,'" said Gibson. "And I had absolutely no peace at all. I felt in those first few days that God was telling me to take the path of peace. I could fight and I could probably win, but the end result would be better if I just followed what He wanted to do."

Gibson indicated that it was a "battle every single day." Then came the decision to sell Tripwire to Saber Interactive.

"This was 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears," said Gibson, noting that to first get the company going, he borrowed against everything he owned, missed time with his family, and sank months of 100-hour work weeks.

After some soul-searching and counsel from a mentor, Gibson signed the contract, parting ways with his company.

Months later, he heeded the apparent tap of the divine on his shoulder, got in touch with Solli, and met the team in Norway. Shortly thereafter, he joined Bible X on a project he now figures could very well be "one of the biggest things for spreading the gospel" — something Solli noted is critical at a time of dismal Bible illiteracy.

Pulling out all the stops

Solli previously told Blaze News, "We want to create something great because we believe it's the greatest message ever told," adding that "the Christian message deserves to have the same amount of effort, if not more" than other works of entertainment.

This was a factor not only in seeking greater investment but also in adding Gibson to a team that includes individuals who previously worked at Rockstar Games on the Grand Theft Auto franchise and on Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as on the Thief and Assassin's Creed series.

"That's been the goal all the time: to bring on the best people with the best experience and the burning heart for this type of project," said Solli.

Blaze News previously asked Dr. Kevin Schut, a professor of media and communication at Trinity Western University and the author of "Of Games & God: A Christian Exploration of Video Games," about Christian video games and their apparent inability to break into the mainstream.

While the industry's aggressive and transgressive culture has long been a factor, Schut noted that "few developers of explicitly Christian games have either the experience or resources to make really high-quality games."

Bible X appears to be breaking the pattern.

Gate Zero - Screenshot from early demo

Solli noted that Gibson has brought 20-plus years of experience as a founder CEO, game developer, designer, and programmer, as well as his industry network.

"As a startup and as an indie developer — there's a lot of small challenges every day," said Solli. "The more we can shorten the decision time and shorten the time it takes to go from the wrong direction in the right direction, the more effective[ly] we can spend all the money we're using to create this game."

Gibson indicated that there were two preconditions for his involvement in the project.

First, he had to know that the team he would be working with had "the skills and the desire to make an undeniably great game, because not everybody has the skills and not everybody has the drive to do something that successful."

Second, he said Bible X would have to double its budget on Gate Zero to maximize quality and ensure that the game was a knockout.

Bible X had already satisfied the first condition and agreed to satisfy the second. However, the increased budget meant finding new ways to raise funds.

Previously, Bible X successfully crowdfunded several hundred thousand dollars in campaigns for the game on Indiegogo and Kickstarter.

"Since we talked last time, we have started an organization in the U.S. called NextGen Bible Media. The goal there is to first and foremost fund-raise for [Gate Zero], but later on, possibly for other games," Solli told Blaze News.

Bible X appears to be crafting a game that satisfies the expectations of conventional gamers while also delivering biblical content they will never have seen before.

NextGen Bible Media is a nonprofit registered through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services set up to help fund the Gate Zero project in BCC Media. According to the NextGen Bible Media page, which has an option for tax-deductible donations, the project is already 49% funded.

"This is marking great progress, but we need additional support to reach the full target and bring this vision to life," said Solli.

Gibson noted that he is among the donors.

"I am a significant backer of Gate Zero. I'm putting my money where my mouth is," said Gibson. "I'm not just asking people to donate. I'm saying, 'Come alongside me and also donate because — and Arve talks about this a lot — Bible literacy is going down."

According to the American Bible Society's State of the Bible 2024 report, the percentage of American adult Bible users (defined as those who interact with scripture at least three or four times a year outside church or faith services) bounced around 50% for several years but then plunged to 40% in 2022. That downward trend has continued, falling to 39% last year and 38% this year.

Of Millennials, 12% are scripture-engaged, whereas 65% are Bible disengaged. While slightly less Bible-disengaged than the older cohort (61%), Gen Z adults are the least scripture engaged at 11%.

"We have an entire generation that's not engaging with the Bible," said Gibson, noting that such a game would constitute a massive evangelizing opportunity.

"I truly believe this game can and likely will be one of the biggest things for spreading the gospel — maybe not just only this game, but the start of what this game is doing — since the printing press," continued the gaming veteran. "This is how the next generation interfaces with media. Video games are bigger than all of professional sports combined. Video games make more revenue than all of movies and television. So it’s a shame that no one has gotten there yet, but it's time."

When asked whether Bible X has partnered with religious organizations and churches stateside, Solli said, "We haven’t done that yet, but it's definitely an opportunity."

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, previously told Blaze News that "any medium that offers an accurate account of the biblical story and encourages young people to grow in the Christian faith should be welcomed by Christians. With proper parental guidance, it can serve as a platform for more serious study. Gate Zero promises to do just that."

Although Donohue admitted to a limited exposure to Gate Zero, he indicated that it "would be an important cultural marker" should it break into the mainstream. "Young people, especially boys, are being inundated with morally debased videos, so wholesome alternatives are badly needed."

"Some parents may carp that this is not a blue-chip medium, but if a video game presents a realistic opportunity to evangelize the young, its unconventional approach should not be a factor," added Donohue.

The game — and how it has evolved

The version of the game previewed by Blaze News late last year kicks off in a cyberpunk dystopia in the year 2072. Current trends were clearly left unchecked because the soulless society of the 2070s appears to be bereft of Christianity.

Max, the playable teen protagonist, uses his time machine, Gate Zero, to travel back to the first century as part of a resistance group, keen on challenging a corrupted version of history. There, Max explores ancient Israel and follows Christ's ministry in ancient Judea and Galilee.

The sci-fi framing not only coheres the game but permits Bible X to avoid dragging two millennia of social and political baggage into the game.

"The intent behind the time machine is to bring the player back to Year Zero, back to Jesus, and to talk to the Author, basically," said Solli. "The game takes players back to the source, back to Jesus, because we believe that connecting with Jesus is what people really need today. This journey allows players to explore their own questions and find help for their current challenges."

Gate Zero - Screenshot from early demo

"We tried to weave together the story of our player character with the stories from Jesus," Solli previously told Blaze News. "They have certain meeting points where they connect, and then you can explore."

The player is free to explore an intricately detailed world that clerics, archeologists, historians, and other scholars have worked with the Bible X team to ensure is both historically and biblically accurate.

Gate Zero is not, however, a mere virtual museum. The player has agency, is met with both purpose and danger, and is rewarded for curiosity.

'We just have to do our job and be humble every day. Be humble and work hard. That's our secret ingredient.'

Since Blaze News last spoke to him in November, Solli indicated that he and his team at Bible X have been working on the core of the game and strengthening the game loop to ensure that "it's an undeniably great experience."

When pressed on specifics, Solli noted they have been working on action, stealth, and traversal mechanics, as well as on conducting further research to incorporate additional stories into the game.

Gibson said early iterations may have come across as high-quality walking simulators, but the game has radically evolved.

"We want the action parts of the game to be amazing, making it on par or better than other games in these genres," said Gibson, citing Assassin's Creed and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as two examples. "We want the action parts to be on par with that, so that when players play it, they might come into the game going, 'I don't care about the stories, but I hear the game plays really good.'"

"One of the big improvements from what people have seen in the Kickstarter demo is the abilities that Max has to traverse the world," said Gibson. "He's climbing, jumping, and balancing on beams and has some really cool special abilities that we're not quite ready to reveal yet."

Bible X appears to be crafting a game that satisfies the expectations of conventional gamers while also delivering biblical content they will never have seen before — certainly not in a game.

Solli indicated that the primary market the company aims to target is the U.S. and English-speaking countries. However, owing to the committed and ever-growing community, he suspects that the game will be localized and translated into roughly 12 languages on day one.

As for immediate next steps, Solli said, "We just have to do our job and be humble every day. Be humble and work hard. That's our secret ingredient."

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Daring video game transports players to 1st-century Israel for a unique encounter with the 'greatest message ever told'



A Christian media group developed a comprehensive Bible study program for a youth camp in early 2020. Their aim was to transport young people back to 1st-century Jerusalem to engage with a painstakingly crafted simulacrum of Herod's Temple and expand on their understanding of Paul's letter to the Hebrews. Unfortunately for the would-be junior time travelers, the event was canceled on account of the emergence of COVID-19. The underlying effort was not, however, in vain.

The slight setback gave the Norwegian Christians the requisite time and distance to understand the greater potential of their program — that their virtual Second Temple was simply the first step toward reconstructing an old world for the edification of new souls.

Game developer Bible X, an offshoot of the Brunstad Christian Church's Oslo-based media company, has since raised all of ancient Israel on the Unreal Engine. Not only are the buildings historically accurate and populated with lifelike characters, they are situated in an open world replete with insights into the time period, its politics, culture, and customs. But this is no mere temple walk-through.

It is the setting for Gate Zero, a story-driven title that looks, feels, and plays like an AAA blockbuster.

According to game designer and Bible X leader Arve Solli, the chief distinction between this game and others in the historical adventure genre is that Gate Zero is centered on the most significant story there is to tell — one all but neglected in the medium.

While there are no explicitly Christian video games like it in the mainstream, Gate Zero might change things.

The industry

The video game industry has outgrown the global movie and North American sports industries combined, raking in roughly $188 billion in global sales last year. Beside being a lucrative business, it is also pervasive. The number of active video gamers across the globe in 2023 was projected to be over 3.07 billion.

The five top-selling video games in the U.S. in 2022 were Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Elden Ring, Madden NFL 23, God of War Ragnarok, and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Gamers would be hard-pressed to find a Christian title in the blood-soaked and sports-heavy top 100 list, or even in the top 1,000.

Despite various efforts over the years to break into the mainstream in a big way, Christian video games have largely been enjoyed on the margins and to little fanfare.

Dr. Kevin Schutt, a professor of media and communication at Trinity Western University, has long studied video games, religion, and the interplay between both, penning a book on the topic entitled, "Of Games & God: A Exploration of Video Games." He told Blaze News, "Arguably, there have been no overtly Christian video games that would be considered 'mainstream.' ... There have been a handful of explicitly Christian games that have received at least a little media attention, but almost always as curiosities. And even then, the financial returns have not been truly substantial."

Part of the reason faith-based games haven't broken into the mainstream, despite a dream to do so since at least the 1980s, is that "much of traditional Christian culture is out of step with the culture of mainstream gaming culture, which tends to be aggressive, playful, combative, and boundary-pushing," said Schutt.

The subversive nature of gaming culture is not ultimately what's keeping faith-based games down. Rather, the issue is quality.

"Frankly, few developers of explicitly Christian games have either the experience or resources to make really high-quality games," said Schutt. "Nobody has really figured out a super successful indie route that gets around the big-budget game requirements to produce in the AAA space."

Solli shares Schutt's sense that quality is critical to the success of any game, especially for faith-based games.

The Bible X designer told Blaze News that quality often appears to be a secondary priority — if a priority at all — among faith-based developers because many "take it for granted that Christian people ... want to use it or see it because it's Christian."

Although a different medium, Solli cited the "The Chosen" TV series as an exemplar of Christian entertainment done well and at a high standard.

"We want to create something great because we believe it's the greatest message ever told," said Solli. "So we should put everything we can into doing that. An undeniably great video game, not like 'How little effort can we put into this? People will play it anyway.' ... We tried to think of it the opposite way."

"Why should we use so much money in producing everything else in entertainment? I mean, the Christian message deserves to have the same amount of effort, if not more," he added.

The gate between the Gospels and the mainstream

The free-to-play prototype available on Steam starts off in an unlikely place: a cyberpunk dystopia. The year is 2072. The place, Terrapolis, is ruled by a eudemonistic regime that has successfully secularized society, leaving almost no traces of Christianity or Christ.

The playable protagonist, Max, and his cousin Hector stumble onto the mystery of their grandmother's secret, which ultimately prompts them to use their time machine, Gate Zero, to travel back to the first century in search of answers.

Although the sci-fi framing is heavy-handed, it serves to cohere the experience and make sense of the game's interface, puzzle elements, radioed insights, and progression system.

Almost immediately, Max picks up the trail of Christ's ministry in 30s Judea and Galilee.

"We tried to weave together the story of our player character with the stories from Jesus," said Solli. "They have certain meeting points where they connect, and then you can explore."

For instance, the player will be presented with the choice of whether to help a distraught mother and father find their son. For those with some biblical insight, this particular quest might be easier than most.

In another instance, Solli indicated the player comes across Christ healing the leper. The designer did not let on whether the player will be the first person whom the healed man, sworn to secrecy in Mark 1:40-45, blabs to.

Beyond the 130-140 Christ-centered narrative events in the game, including the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, the player will encounter additional facts and stories from the Bible, Old and New Testament alike, while exploring the virtual world. Sometimes these insights, including details about Jewish traditions and the history of Israel, come in the form of text, whereas at other times they are visualized in real time with interactive elements.

While this digital encounter with the Gospels could potentially be a solitary experience, Bible X has incorporated multiplayer elements, such that friends can join in via their mobile phones. Certain side quests appear to rely upon the help of others. For instance, in the prototype, an NPC asks the player to help him find his lost sheep. While in this case, additional players are tasked with flagging them and ensuring they're successfully shepherded back to the flock, other quests will call upon them in other ways, such as having them solve puzzles.

"Jesus says that where two or more are gathered in my name, I will be among them. ... That's the inspiration of [the multiplayer component] because when people are gathered around Jesus' word, they can talk about it and have fellowship," said Solli.

The game is nonviolent, but not without danger. The player must rely upon stealth abilities and gear to steal past the various guards and soldiers posted throughout the region. This muted sense of peril is compounded by the creeping awareness that a failure to log the forgotten truth of the past might mean the future's condemnation.

The significance of success

Solli indicated that his team at BCC Media understand that their mission is to fill the "blank space" in the video game industry with a game "that could convey the greatest message ever, using the most advanced and the best medium out there ever to basically help young people understand and also dive into the huge and vast world of the Bible."

Although it remains to be seen how Gate Zero will ultimately be received, Bible X was greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm in July, raising around $327,847 to support the development of Gate Zero, otherwise funded by BCC Media.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told Blaze News that "any medium that offers an accurate account of the biblical story, and encourages young people to grow in the Christian faith, should be welcomed by Christians. With proper parental guidance, it can serve as a platform for more serious study. Gate Zero promises to do just that."

While admitting to a limited exposure to the game, Donohue indicated that it "would be an important cultural marker" should Gate Zero break into the mainstream. After all, "Young people, especially boys, are being inundated with morally debased videos, so wholesome alternatives are badly needed."

"Some parents may carp that this is not a blue-chip medium, but if a video game presents a realistic opportunity to evangelize the young, its unconventional approach should not be a factor," continued Donohue.

Noting that "video games are a 'final frontier' for Christian art and entertainment," Dr. Daniel Blackaby, author and director of the Blackaby Bible Institute, suggested that a breakthrough hit could pave the way for Christian game developers to "increase their influence in the booming video game industry."

Schutt noted that the significance of a Christian game succeeding in a big way would largely depend on the nature of the game. A deeply political game might make headlines but runs the risk of feeding into the culture wars and missing out on an opportunity to advance "the peace of Christ."

"But a game that shared the Bible in a creative and engaging way could have significant educational benefits," said Schutt. "A game that teaches profound virtue would have the value of changing people's lives for the better. A game with a Christian vision of creativity would harness the natural God-given creativity of gaming culture."

Blackaby noted that a possible downside to this kind of virtualization of biblical engagements would be creative license.

"Any adaptation of a historical event or a pre-existing text will inevitably take creative license to adapt the source material into a compelling narrative," Blackaby told Blaze News. "Yet taking creative license with the God-inspired text of the Bible presents a very unique challenge. Visuals are powerful. They stick with people. Therefore, to create visual representation of the Gospels, particularly when needing to take creative license to 'fill in the gaps,' should not be done lightly."

Schutt indicated that while there are risks that come with trying to make and publish a good Christian game, the greater risk might be abandoning the attempt altogether.

"The video game industry is a massive cultural influencer. If you want want a difference in the world, don't hold this world at arm's length," said Schutt. "Video games hold amazing opportunities for creativity, fun, playfulness, and community building. Let's get involved and bless that world."

If Gate Zero can get the ball rolling in that regard and act "as a level to bring young people to the Christian faith," Donohue said we "should not hesitate to embrace it."

The game is set to come out next year on PC, though the developers hope for Xbox and PlayStation versions in the future.

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