DoubleBear Productions is an indie game studio founded in June 2009 by writer and game designer Brian Mitsoda.

Founding

In both the ''Making of Dead State'' book and various interviews, Brian Mitsoda stated that his primary motive for founding DoubleBear was to make the games that he wanted to create, and not have to worry about the heartbreak of a publisher changing their mind and killing the project: Regarding the studio's peculiar name, Mitsoda said:

Games

''Dead State''

DoubleBear's first project was ''

Dead State ''Dead State'' is a turn-based survival horror role-playing video game developed by DoubleBear Productions and Iron Tower Studio set in a zombie apocalypse scenario. Players are tasked with leading a group of survivors living in a shelter in the fi ...

'', a turn-based role-playing game set in a

zombie apocalypse Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack hum ...

scenario. The studio worked with Iron Tower Studio on the project, and the game utilized ''

The Age of Decadence ''The Age of Decadence'' is a role-playing video game for Microsoft Windows developed by Iron Tower Studio, led by the pseudonymous "Vince D. Weller". Set in a low-magic, post-apocalyptic world inspired by the fall of the Roman Empire, the game ...

''s

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

. Information regarding the theme and setting was divulged in a

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

article, including a quote from Mitsoda that reveals that one of the goals of the game is a "serious examination of a national crisis or natural disaster," and that the game draws inspiration from Mitsoda's own experiences living in Miami, Florida, during

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...

. ''

'' launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in summer 2012, released on Steam

Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

in February 2014, and had a final release on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...

on December 4, 2014. The game was supported with multiple free updates afterwards, culminating in the final ''Reanimated'' update, meant to act as a definitive edition of the game.

''PANIC'' series

For a while after the release of ''Dead State: Reanimated'', the team made various references to a second game on their Twitch streams, and mentioned that they had "pretty exciting (and very fun) projects in the works" in their ''Dead State'' postmortem on

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...

. On August 16, 2016, a surprise announcement in a story from

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

revealed that DoubleBear was about to release one game - '' PANIC at Multiverse High!'' - and was announcing another - '' PANIC in the Multiverse!''

''PANIC at Multiverse High!''

'' PANIC at Multiverse High!'' is a parody

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

otome game An , is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main idea/goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player/main character and one of the second-lead male characters. His ...

in the vein of ''

Hatoful Boyfriend is a Japanese dōjin soft otome visual novel released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows and OS X, in which all the characters other than the protagonist are sentient birds. It was developed by manga artist Hato Moa's dōjin circle PigeoNation Inc. ...

'': the main character wakes up unexpectedly with no memory of their past, nearly late for high school. Once there, they find that a cruel tentacled monster in a letterman jacket - Chad - has declared himself their rival, and they need to enhance their attributes (Cool, Nice, Tough) to make friends and defeat Chad at Prom. According to the PC Gamer article, '' PANIC at Multiverse High!'' was initially conceived as an internal joke, but became a real title when the initial project changed direction. The game was meant to act as a fundraiser for '' PANIC in the Multiverse!'', saying that "We decided to take this route instead of Kickstarter so that no matter what, people would have a game to play, and get to know the characters and setting more directly."

''PANIC in the Multiverse!''

'' PANIC in the Multiverse!'' is the follow-up title, and is described as being a Japanese role-playing game-style base-defense game, involving gathering a team of heroes to push forward to an enemy base and destroying it before the enemy could do the same to the player's. According to the website, the gameplay involves collecting heroes from all over the Multiverse in order to and bring the fight to the main enemy, "the self-proclaimed overlord of the Multiverse, King Sha'art."

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.doublebearproductions.com
DoubleBear Productions
at

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Companies based in Seattle Video game companies established in 2009 Privately held companies based in Washington (state) Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies 2009 establishments in Washington (state)