Idol Minds, LLC (doing business asDeck Nine[1] or Deck Nine Games[2] since 2017) is an American video game developer based in Westminster, Colorado. The studio was founded in April 1997 by Mark Lyons and Scott Atkins and developed games exclusively for PlayStation consoles until 2012. Subsequently, it shifted to mobile games among other things before rebranding as "Deck Nine" in May 2017 to develop narrative-driven games.
At E3 2011, SCE announced Ruin, a "Diablo-style action role-playing game" developed by Idol Minds and SCE's San Diego Studio.[12][13] After the game was renamed Warrior's Lair, Idol Minds was taken off the project in April 2012 (Warrior's Lair was canceled by Sony in July 2013[14][15]).[16][17] Later in 2012, Idol Minds shifted its focus onto mobilefree-to-play games.[18][19] In August 2015, Idol Minds launched a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter for photo safari game Shutterbug, seeking US$400,000 in funding (The project was canceled after raising $2,973 in ten days).[20]
On May 31, 2017, Idol Minds announced that it would focus on narrative-driven games with brand and trade name "Deck Nine",[21] an homage to 1983 video game Planetfall.[22] It built toolsetStoryForge for creating these and was developing a project in a "critically acclaimed franchise".[21][23] During E3 2017, publisher Square Enix announced Deck Nine was developing Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, a prequel to 2015's Life Is Strange.[24][25] The game's first episode was released in August 2017, the second in October and the third and final episode in December.[26][27] A DLC episode Farewell released in March 2018.[28] In September 2018, Deck Nine announced it was working with Square Enix on a new project.[29]
In March 2021, Square Enix announced Life Is Strange: True Colors and the Life Is Strange Remastered Collection (containing the original Life Is Strange and Before the Storm), both remastered by Deck Nine, with Life Is Strange: True Colors being released in September 2021 along with the Wavelengths DLC episode later that same month.[30][31] The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) supported Deck Nine with $2.5 million job-growth incentive tax credits and via the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media (COFTM), the production of True Colors with $150,000 phased film incentives in 2017 and 2018.[32][33] In December 2021, Telltale Games announced to be co-developing The Expanse: A Telltale Series with Deck Nine during The Game Awards 2021.[34] After being delayed from a simultaneous September 2021 launch, Life Is Strange Remastered Collection was released in February 2022.[35]
In May 2023, Deck Nine reportedly laid off 30 employees.[36]The Expanse: A Telltale Series released its first episode in July 2023 with new episodes coming bi-weekly through the fifth and final episode in September[37] while the Archangel DLC episode was released in November.[38] In February 2024, Deck Nine announced that it would lay off 20% of its staff.[39] In April 2024, IGN reported on a toxic workplace culture based on employee testimonials and suspected Nazi symbolism found in a game by staff during development.[40] In June 2024, Square Enix announced Life Is Strange: Double Exposure as a direct sequel to the original Life Is Strange, which was released in October.[41] In December 2024, Deck Nine laid off an undisclosed number of employees.[42]
^"Games — Idol Minds Game Development". June 16, 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2018. Unfortunately, the title was not completed and in 2012 we shifted into mobile F2P gaming.
