MidBoss

June has passed, but that doesn't mean that Pride is over! The month-long streaming event, Season of Pride 2021 is kicking off today! Every day starting on July 1st to the 31st, from 9am Pacific to Midnight, you can tune in to SeasonOfPride.tv and watch a myriad of LGBTQIA+ streamers, games, and participate in game giveaways. We're also supporting three fantastic charities this year: Trans Lifeline, The Trevor Project, and GaymerX. If you're in the position to, you can help out and donate to any one of these by following their respective links here, or going to the SeasonOfPride.tv site! And that's that. So head on over to SeasonOfPride.tv and give it a gander, we'll be here all month. Count on it!

Happy Season of Pride!

Hello Everyone! In case you haven’t heard, we’ve organized the 2nd annual Season of Pride Steam Sale going on now. 

In it, we shine the spotlight on dozens upon dozens wonderfully inclusive LGBTQIA+ games for you to discover, wishlist and nab for some great deals. This sale ends Wednesday, June 23rd, so snap them up while you can! Even wishlisting games helps developers out, so don’t be shy.

Next up, starting July 1st, we’re kicking off our 3rd annual month-long Twitch stream festival also called the Season of Pride. We’ve renamed it from “Summer” of Pride to be a little more inclusive to those down south enjoying their winter, but still with ~Pride in their hearts~. So join us, every single day in July from 9am Pacific - midnight, at SeasonOfPride.tv. There will be tons of giveaways and fun, so Follow us on Twitch or simply bookmark the website and visit our lovely stream team as they showcase dozens and dozens of wonderful games.

Finally, check out the Queer Games Bundle on itch.io right now. We did not organize it, but we think it’s wonderful, so go support small queer indie creators and get over 200 games, zines, and more. 

That’s it! Just remember, PRIDE is not something just in June, so live, laugh, and love all year ‘round.

It's not a drill, it's not a joke, it's a demo and it's out now!

Announced today during The MIX Game Dev Direct live stream, the demo to Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER has been released to the public on both Steam and the Epic Store.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER Pilot Memory is both a demo and stand alone mini-story that takes place two years prior to the full game. As MINERVA agent, ES88, you'll be tasked with diving into the memories of CROW, a bounty hunter who is having trouble remembering a deal that went down ten years ago. This will serve as ES88's first real-world mission using the Neurodiver!

You won't find any Golden Butterflies here, though. What, then, is scrambling CROW's memory? It's up to you to find out and mend his mind! Download the demo now on Steam or the Epic Store!

We'd also like to make a shout out to Rose City Games' newest title, Floppy Knights! Floppy Knights is a delightfully cartoonish deck building game combined with turn-based tactical action. Take on the role of the brilliant inventor, Phoebe, and utilize her bionic arm and best friend Carlton to to help her battle against gusty goblins, sassy succulents, and more! Be sure to wishlist it now so you can build your Floppy Knight deck, and choose your way to play when it releases on Steam.

That about wraps it up for this update. In short, pick up NEURODIVER's demo on Steam or the Epic Store (and wish list us while you're at it), plus check out and wishlist Floppy Knights on Steam!

No, this is not NEURODIVER, which we are still diligently working on, but we’d like to announce a delightful new game featuring classic platforming, magic & queer romance!

In collaboration with another amazing queer game studio, Kitsune Games, the makers of the game MidBoss (coincidentally named, but not associated with us) and the even more famous Super Bernie World, we're proud to announce development of our upcoming title Kitsune Tails, a platformer styled after beloved classics steeped in Japanese mythology and diverse relationships, coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, as well as Windows and Linux via Steam and itch.io.

Isn’t this just freaking adorable?

Play as a young female kitsune, one of Inari's fox-eared and bushy-tailed messengers, and embark on a hero's journey that begins while delivering your first message. Experience a romantic encounter with a kindly sorceress who comes to your aid in a time of need. Explore the complicated relationship with your former mentor turned antagonist and uncover her reasons for sealing your love interest inside an elemental prison. Unlock powers that manifest as cute outfits to help you run, jump, and dash across five elemental worlds to save your love interest.

She ain’t afraid of no ghosts!

Features

Classic platforming action set in a land inspired by Japanese mythology

Explore five elemental worlds and various haunted houses

Learn new elemental powers and use them to find secrets and optional story content

Unlock a bonus ending by fully exploring the relationships between characters

Use cute outfits to power up, stomp around by stealing a giant boot from enemies

Defeat your haughty former mentor and her foxy gang of minions

Stomp on pangos to make them curl into a ball, pick them up, and kick them around

Carry lights through haunted houses to reveal secret doors and ward off ghosts

Why just swim under the sea, when you can run on water?

If you like what you see, you can find out more at kitsunetails.com or by visiting the Steam store page (wishlist it!), and of course you can always stay up-to-date by following the journey on Twitter.

Hello and Happy August!

It's August! That awkward month that's not quite September, and definitely not October, but it's still probably safe to say some people are slowly sneaking out some Halloween decorations and horror movies. Time is becoming more meaningless anyway, so let's say it's Halloween Part 1. And for the first treat in this long stretch of Halloween, is Issue #4 of the IDW Comic, Read Only Memories!

That's right, comics are back in circulation again, and that means the final issue of Read Only Memories will be releasing THIS WEEK on Wednesday the 5th! Witness the thrilling conclusion to Lexi's investigation! What really happened to Hedy's partner? What's Crow's involvement? Find out in issue #4, available at a comic book shop near you, ordering directly via IDW or digitally via comiXology!

Also just a reminder, we have a steam page up for our latest game, NEURODIVER! Check the trailer, and add us to your wishlist, it would help us out a lot!

Also, in case you missed it in our June email, we've opened up an LGBTQIA+ charity storefront featuring games that were in the June Summer of Pride event. 15% of the proceeds will be going to Trans Lifeline, so give it a gander!

And that about does it! In short, Issue #4, the final issue of the IDW Read Only Memories mini series releases on Wednesday the 5th! Be sure to wishlist NEURODIVER on Steam, and check out our LGBTQA+ charity storefront!

Greetings!

In the blink of an eye, June has now passed, and with that ends an entire month of streaming for the Summer of Pride!

Thank you all so much, both streamers and viewers alike, for joining us on this event! With Summer of Pride, we've managed to raise over $22k in donations spread over GaymerX, The Trevor Project, The Bail Project, and Trans Lifeline, and that's just through MidBoss Team! We couldn't have done that without you.

Speaking of Summer activities, the Steam Summer Sale is still happening! And so with another Steam sale, it should come as no surprise that 2064: Read Only Memories is discounted at 75% off, because of course it is.

Speaking of Read Only Memories, as we've mentioned previously, Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER now has a page on Steam! Be sure to wishlist it when you have the chance, it would really help us out!

And that does it for this update. Thank you again for all your help with another successful Summer of Pride, and be sure to add NEURODIVER to your wishlist on Steam!

As always, be sure to keep your augmented eyes on • our • social • media for further updates!

Until next time, - MidBoss

Happy Summer of Pride!

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re hosting our 2nd annual Summer of Pride stream event, where we shine a bright spotlight on some of the best LGBTQIA+ inclusive games and Twitch streamers, 15 hours a day for the whole month! This year’s line up includes over 70 streamers and over 60 games. Check out the schedule and join in the fun! To support this, we’re proud to announce an official Steam event going live TODAY at 10am Pacific, a huge Summer of Pride 2020 Steam Sale! Check it out. We’re continuing to create new ways to support the creation of inclusive games and this is our biggest and newest venture in that.

We also want to promote the amazing Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality bundle on itch.io. Our game and over 1200 others are included, and they’re yours for a minimum donation of $5. As of today, they have reached $3,000,000!!! Give more if you can.

Please share and donate if you can. There’s really nothing more vital and timely than supporting major change in the world through promotion of true equality.

Next, we have a special announcement—we are participating in the Guerrilla Collective, which is a very cool event brought together with The MIX, GameSpot, and Kinda’ Funny, this coming weekend! Tune in June 13th, 14th, and 15th for a bunch of fun and festivities, and on the 14th, they are unveiling our newest teaser trailer! Bookmark this page to see it!

That’s it! So check out the new Steam event and mark your calendars to check out the Guerrilla Collective

It’s June, and that means it’s Pride month, which also means it’s time for the 2nd annual Summer of Pride!

If you were following us last year, we created an event we called the Summer of Pride, a month-long streaming event featuring queer streamers and queer games! You can check out the lineup we have here and you can watch the streams here. We're around all month, so join us and check out some cool games! Next up is an update for Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER

We've opened up a Steam page! That's right, and keep an eye out for the Guerrilla Collective live event happening on June 6th through the 8th for another update there. Be sure to add Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER to your wish list when you get the chance. The addition will really help us out! Lastly, comics!

Hello Cyberpunks!

Today we'd love to make a special announcement. To celebrate the release of the IDW comics and help promote our current internal project, NEURODIVER, we're planning on opening up a special pop-up cafe in the future. The very first psychic cafe, the NEURODINER!

We'll know what you want before you can even order it! Simply browse our menu, think about and focus on what you want, and our highly trained staff of specialized espers will catch it telepathically and begin making your order. No fuss, no muss! It'll be delivered exactly as you imagined it. As a bonus, for those curious about their own possible latent ESP abilities, we also offer free Zener card tests while you wait on your order!

Aside from that, on the comic book side of things, three out of four issues are out now from IDW's Read Only Memories comic. For safety reasons, distributors are putting a pause on the shipment of comics, so the originally scheduled release of Issue #4 for March has been delayed until further notice. In the mean time, here's a sneak peek of what's inside!

Has Lexi Rivers fallen in too deep? Things are spicing up! We'll keep you informed as soon as we have an updated on the release of this final issue!

Greetings Cyberpunks and Happy New Year!

As you might already know, last month was the debut of the IDW comic for Read Only Memories! Did you pick up a copy? We scoured the comic shops around SF and managed to get a copy of each cover! Press coverage has also been absolutely, positively, fantastically, positive, so far!

And now Issue #2 will be arriving in comic shops this month! With Lexi now on her next case, what twists and turns will she encounter next? Call your comic shops and see if they'll have it in stock and pre-oder for you! Or check out ComiXology and grab it digitally when it's available! Just like the previous comic, there will be three cover variants: (from left to right) A cover by Stefano Simeone, B cover by Christina Antoinette Neofotistou, and RI cover by Peach MoMoKo!

Speaking of pre-orders, be sure to pre-order Issue #3 now at your local comic shop while you have the chance! Pre-orders should also be available on ComiXology as well for digital readers! Who is this fearsome lion?? Covers (from left to right) A by Stefano Simeone, B by Christina Antoinette Neofotistou, and RI by Giannis Milonogiannis!

And finally, we've got a special video message from the writer, Sina Grace. Check it out!

Writer Sina Grace talks about Read Only Memories

And that about wraps it up for the first newsletter of the New Year! We hope you're enjoying the comics from IDW, and as are excited for them as we are. To recap: Issue 2 is out this month! Check your comic shops, or ComiXology, and be sure to pre-order Issue 3 for next month!

Greetings Cyberpunks

SAVE THE DATE! November 29th, that's right, Black Friday, November 29th will be THE date to get yourself a Limited Run physical edition of 2064: Read Only Memories INTEGRAL for the Nintendo Switch! Let's see what's in the box!

In this collection, you'll get:

A physical cartridge of the game w/ physical manual

Double-sided poster of the case arts by Billie Snippet and Yue Wu

Physical artbook

Turing metal pin

Updated INTEGRAL official soundtrack with album art by Yue Wu

That's pretty bonkers, if you ask us. It doesn't stop there, though, the Switch case also includes reversible art (front by Billie Snippet, reverse by Yue Wu)!

As well as a lovely collector's edition box for all of it to fit in, which can magnetically attach to the VA-11 HALL-A collector's edition to make two complete panoramic illustrations in both the front covers and gatefold inner cover (both by illustrator, Rebecca G Ryan)!

This is not just the INTEGRAL version of the game, it is the "INTEGRAL BLACK FRIDAY LIMITED RUN CYBER COMBINERS GORGEOUS" edition. After this release, we're breaking the mold! Burning the source code so it's no longer allowed to be released ever again! Not really, though. That would be reckless and foolish of us. But this'll be the last we'll probably see of 2064: Read Only Memories in a physical form from Limited Run, so be sure to keep your eyes out for it! Rather than going out to get pushed around by ravenous Black Friday shoppers, stay in and nab that copy! November 29th, first run at 10AM EST, second run at 6PM EST! That's NOVEMBER 29th, Black Friday! Bright and early at 10AM EST, and again at 6PM EST! And if you're just interested in the standard edition, the two (2) week open pre-orders for those begin on the same day, same time, starting at 10AM EST!

Hey everyone, happy official Halloween month!

Today we've got two important things to bring up, the first one being Steam's LGBTQ+ Games Sale!

Steam is running an LGBTQ+ sale for the span of the next three days (and a handful of hours)! Some cool things to note in the sale is that it also features both of our Queer Games Bundles, featuring some awesome games like Tacoma, Ladykiller in a Bind, Secret Little Haven, and Even the Ocean. We were also delighted to help with further recommendations for games to be included in it, as well as some of the presentation! So check it out! The second thing is that it's National Coming Out Day today! A day celebrated through sharing stories of coming out (thus the name). Not comfortable with sharing your story? Hey, that's A-OK too. Just know that you're wonderful and supported by many out there you may not even know. And that about does it! We don't have anything spooky for this October update outside of the spine chilling discounts during this LGBTQ+ Steam Sale.

Hello everyone! 

It's September 30th and we've largely been quiet. A joke about this being the first month of Halloween again would go here, but we're already a few hours away from month 2 of Halloween, the spookiest month. That aside, some teaser images from IDW's Read Only Memories comic have spilled out into the public eye thanks to lead illustrator Stefano Simeone (G.I. Joe, Clankillers, Eternal), and recently, Kyle Smart (Doom Patrol, Adventure Time, Over the Garden Wall). Let's check them out, starting with issue #1's cover by Stefano Simone!

IDW's Read Only Memories takes place a few years after the events of 2064. We follow Lexi Rivers, former NSFPD detective turn private eye, now living in Santa Cruz, California, just outside the protective bubble of Neo-SF. Who's this new ROM on the cover? What weird conspiracies will Lexi uncover in her adventures?

Every issue of Read Only Memories will also have a cover variant, each one done by a different artist! This one is by Kyle Smart! This variant cover is inspired by one of the earlier chase scenes in Blade Runner.

The spotlight is on Lexi, where will this case take her? And that's all we can show for now as far as covers go. How about inside the comic? Well we can't show off too much of that right now, but in the mean time, check out some crops provided by Stefano!

We can't wait for IDW's comic to reach store shelves so everyone can experience Stefano Simeone's breezy, dynamic style with the world of Read Only Memories.

This month's comic catalogue

Got a box at a favorite comic shop? Wanna help possibly support the future of IDW's Read Only Memories comic? Then head on down there and demand they order it! And hold an issue for you when it comes in!

These last two months have been filled with two big announcements, involving both the reveal of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER, and Read Only Memories moving over into comics with IDW. Now we're all out of announcements to talk about! So for this update, we'll get into some light details about NEURODIVER, starting with a new piece of art!

In it, we see a full reveal of ES88, a capsule device that holds the Neurodiver, and a new character. This new tall and brooding person is known as GATE, a brain controlled android (or "BCA"), MINERVA personnel, and ES88's close friend and colleague at the organization. GATE helps ES88 by walking her through mission briefings, keeping a close lookout while she searches through people's minds, administering a dose of CRASH when an extra boost of psychic energy is needed between her and the Neurodiver, and making sure she properly takes care of her Neurodiver unit. So whether you're exploring or resting at the MINERVA facilities, heading to your mission destination, or diving into someone's memory, you can always stop and ask GATE for help. And that about does it! We'll try to squeeze in more NEURODIVER, as well as general Read Only Memories world info in future updates!

A New IDW Comic Series Coming This December!

Today, we are proud to announce that we have partnered up with IDW Publishing to expand the Read Only Memories universe with an all-new comic book series, set to begin releasing in monthly installments starting December 2019. IDW, one of the largest comic book publishers in the U.S., has brought to print popular adaptations of licensed properties including Sonic the Hedgehog, Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Star Wars as well as popular indie works such as Locke & Key and Usagi Yojimbo. More than 80 IDW titles have been featured in New York Times best seller lists.

Series Synopsis

Return to the colorful cyberpunk future of Read Only Memories in a brand new story involving sentient AI, love and a web of conspiracy. Taking place in the years between 2064: Read Only Memories and Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, the next upcoming mystery adventure game in the Read Only Memories universe, IDW’s series features Lexi Rivers, formerly a detective and now a private investigator. When a robot arrives at her door seeking a lost lover, she is drawn into a journey to the seemingly peaceful beaches of Santa Cruz.

Each issue of the adventure will feature full-color illustrations by Stefano Simeone, who has also worked with Dark Horse, Boom! Studios and The Walt Disney Company on properties including Star Wars. The story will be woven by the prolific Sina Grace, a veteran who has written for comic series including Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men and Iceman.

“We’re blessed to work with extremely talented creators for our first foray into media outside of video games,” said Cade Peterson, CEO of MidBoss. “The Read Only Memories universe still has a lot of room to explore diversity and inclusion through the richness of the world and the relatable characters that inhabit it. Bringing other creatives on board to help explore everything the setting has to offer is the logical next step.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER

Finally, finally we can reveal what we've been working on over the last few months now. Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER is the latest installment to the Read Only Memories series has been revealed. NEURODIVER is a completely new game and story and, while not a direct sequel to 2064, will feature some familiar faces, like Jess Meas, the gene-spliced, hybrid lawyer, TOMCAT, the notorious hacker, and Lexi Rivers, former NSFPD officer turned private eye.

NEURODIVER's story revolves around ES88, a gifted esper and agent of the powerful underground information science organization, MINERVA. A rogue esper, known as the Golden Butterfly, is on the loose and wreaking havoc on the subconscious minds of Neo-San Francisco.

ES88 will dive into the memories and take the roles of Jess Meas, TOMCAT and Lexi Rivers in order to track down this elusive esper. She'll utilize the added abilities of a genetically engineered creature known as a Neurodiver to not only read, but identify, manipulate, and unlock anomalies related to Golden in her target's memories.

Can you solve the case of the Golden Butterfly? Find out when Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER releases in 2020!

MidBoss Summer of Pride and Travel Log

Greetings from Japan! MidBoss has been going mobile for almost a month now, from visiting the Rainbow Arcade at the Schwules Museum in Berlin, to traversing the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto for BitSummit. Before we get more in depth with that, let's talk about Pride season with Summer of Pride! MidBoss's Summer of Pride kicked off just a few days ago. With Summer of Pride tune in to a series of LGBTQIA+ streamers playing queer games all month long. We've had a lot of streamers on for our first week, including JeffBrutlag playing Dominique Pamplemousse and Even the Ocean, SlicedRaven playing Fragments of Him, Mischa with Your Royal Gayness an Gone Home, RandomlyJennerated with The Missing, and Justin Nick with Tacoma to name a few.

It's been a blast, so far! If you want to keep up to date on what streamers and games will play when, check out the schedule on our Summer of Pride page! And you can watch them On our Twitch channel here! As we mentioned earlier, we've been doing a lot of traveling, nearly a whole month's worth! Starting off at the Schwules LGBT Museum in Berlin to check out the last few days of the Rainbow Arcade exhibit. Both Read Only Memories and Gaming in Color were on display! Turing joined us on our journey to check it out.

Afterwards, we packed our bags and went back up in the air for Japan! Trekking across the country from Tokyo, to Osaka, to Kyoto for BitSummit 7, and back to Tokyo again. There's been a lot of sight seeing and revisiting favorite locations, but also a lot of business brewing up as well, including talks with potential publishers for █████████████. Turing, of course, joins us on this journey as well, daydreaming in a bed of flowers during the very busy Sanja Matsuri, traversing Mt. Fuji, and wistfully wondering how to properly drink coffee without spilling it all over their face at a cafe in Kyoto.