Pain dev Idol Minds rebrands and shifts focus to 'narrative-driven' games

20-year-old independent game studio Idol Minds announced today that it's shifting gears to focus on making "narrative-driven titles" with its new StoryForge game dev toolset, and as part of the change it has a new name: Deck Nine.

The shift is kind of a big deal when you consider that the lion's share of games the studio worked on over the past two decades haven't been sold on the strength of their plots. The studio made its name in the late '90s making Cool Boarders games for Sony's PlayStation, and went on to work on original projects like the human ragdoll sim Pain as well as ports (including the Ratchet & Clank HD Collection.)

Now, the studio formerly known as Idol Minds has a deal with a publisher to produce a "brand new addition to a critically acclaimed franchise" that will be announced next month. The studio has reportedly spent three years building its new StoryForge toolset and recruiting fresh talent "from the film, TV and video game industries" in preparation for the shift.