How the mighty have fallen--but will something better come out of it?
I stopped playing "Choices" a few months ago and it's WILD to realize I haven't played "Fictif" since it stopped 3 years ago as well as "The Arcana" when it finished around the early days of "Fictif" (I think), but I feel like I'm experiencing the first nostalgic era of the digital age when it comes to mobile games; the mid to late 2010s was the best era of mobile games, it seems. Of course, after doing some digging, it's WILD to hear about the downfall of the companies that made these games. Nix Hydra (maker of "The Arcana" and "Fictif") is a rabbit hole that I can't even begin to explain, and it's content quickly became second priority when acquired by Dorian, despite Dorian saying it would still prioritize NH's content, instead taking the back seat to Dorian's own app--the app of which I liked in concept, but not execution. In any case, some members of the team from "The Arcana" and "The Last Legacy" from Fictif, as well as other games, made the indie Red Spring Studio company, with their first game "Touchstarved" (which had a Kickstarter that FAR EXCEEDED it's OG goals by 8x; one of the goals included a Nintendo Switch port). I think the game comes out at the end of this year, so I'll be excited to see how it goes. Unfortunately, their Kickstarter page has their updates limited to backers (people who helped fund the project) only, which IMO limits the exposure the game gets, but let's hope for the best.
As for Pixelberry, apparently they've had issues for years, and last year they had massive layoffs and were acquired by an AI company, so...there's that. Plus it seems they're still smut-focused and even the early 2024 art was victim of AI usage, maybe before that. To recooperate their costs, PB closed out two of it's other apps, and while still generating content, is losing the trust of fans, especially since, from what I've seen on their newsletters, they're focused on more "content" for established franchises--which doesn't mean sequels or spinoffs, but often a short book. Anyway, three of their creatives have went on to found Candlelight Games: the Head of Design was once the ex-creative director at PB and helped write "Bloodbound," "Blades of Light and Shadow," "Most Wanted," and "Endless Summer"; the Head of Narrative was an ex-head of Choices and helped write "America's Most Eligible," "The Nanny Affair" (man, the switchup is CRAZY), "With Every Heartbeat," "Distant Shores," and "Ride or Die"; and the CEO was the former VP of new games, an ex-head of Choices, and ex-head of Hollywood U. As someone who became disappointed with many Choices books when the decade hit, this feels promising. The company's first project, "Project Spellstruck" (codename), is expected to start releasing this year.
Seems like the mid-2020s may have me more engaged in interactive mobile games that haven't been exciting for half a decade. Check out these stories and spread the word!
