Bible X, a game studio part of BCC Media, has big plans. Their goal: To give youth access to the Bible in one of the fastest growing media today – gaming.
By Eunice Lenk
For the past three years, Bible X has been creating Gate Zero, a groundbreaking new Bible video game that takes players back in time to explore ancient Israel, interact with gospel stories and examine the deeper meaning of Jesus’ words.
“We believe that there’s a great need for innovation when it comes to conveying the message that Jesus came with to the younger generation.”
As part of their research on the target audience, head of games Arve and a few others from the team travelled to California and Ohio last year in March to conduct in-depth interviews with youth pastors from seven churches.
The team hoped to get insight into youth ministry work in the US, the challenges youth pastors face and their sentiments on using a video game like Gate Zero in ministry.
Prior to this, the team had also met virtually with seven other youth leaders from Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Washington in the fall of 2021.
Youth need innovation
The youth pastors the team met with came from a variety of denominations with varying church sizes. All of them were full of youthful energy and keen on creating the best program possible to engage their students.
“We believe that there’s a great need for innovation when it comes to conveying the message that Jesus came with to the younger generation,” says Arve.
And the youth pastors agreed.
One challenge that many of them mentioned was the short attention span among youth today. “How can we capture their attention long enough to bring a message across?” is a real question youth leaders face.
Several shared that they try to bring in interactive elements in their teaching, from using props and games to lighting something on fire.
Using video games in ministry – a welcome possibility!
Through the interviews, the Bible X team learned that there is a need for a game like Gate Zero in educating young Christians today. Many of the youth leaders acknowledged that gaming is popular among their students. In general, their feedback on the game was very positive!
Several gave practical feedback on specific elements in the game. It was helpful to know that most of the youth leaders, regardless of denominational background, were open to using the game as long as it was true to the Bible.
Armed with valuable feedback from these conversations, the Bible X team travelled back to Norway in enthusiasm to continue developing what they hope to be the first of many high-quality, immersive Christian video games for youth.
About Bible X
Bible X was formed in 2020 as a subdivision of BCC Media STI in Norway. Their vision is to provide access to the most powerful message in the history of the world through immersive experiences.
They are currently developing Gate Zero, a story-rich adventure video game where you can travel back in time to explore 1st century Israel, solve missions and dodge danger while experiencing Biblical events firsthand.
Designed with youth groups in mind, the game also includes a unique cross-platform co-op feature where groups can play together using a PC and mobile phones.
Release 1 of Gate Zero is planned for 2024.
Tell me more: Click to hear about the team's vision for Gate Zero.
Exclusive testers
From February to April last year, Bible X invited members of BUK (Brunstad Youth Club) to participate in their closed beta. Over 500 youth from BCC NA got to try out the beta version of Bible X’s game, meeting for several sessions over six weeks for gaming, good conversations and a fun time together with their friends.
Since then, Bible X has been tested by hundreds of gamers.
Listen to what Steve VanMeter (Forge Gaming), Micah Walsh (Riverview Church) and Bubba Stallcup (Love Thy Nerd) have to say after playing Gate Zero by clicking the video below.
Follow along!
Interested in more info and regular updates? You can follow along with Bible X and Gate Zero developments on Bible X’s exclusive YouTube channel: Bible X Game, Bible X’s Instagram (@biblexgame), or Bible X’s main websites: Biblex.io and Bcc.media/us.