BoldHat® publishes games designed to justify a franchise — worlds that expand through novels, interactive drama, ARG, and live community. Currently: one flagship title, two Steam store pages submitted, and one ambitious target.
Both the ConOps21 game page and demo page have been submitted to Valve for review. Next Fest participation requires store page approval and a separate application — we are targeting the June 2026 event. Follow both pages now to be notified on day one.
In a near-future where Dominion Corp controls reality through neural-integrated AR, a fractured cell intercepts a signal that should not exist. ConOps21 is the prestige TV of gaming — designed to pull literary readers and non-gamers in, then keep them through psychological depth, live LLM NPCs, and a franchise ARG that bleeds into the real world.
"No indie is doing prestige literary interactive drama with LLM NPCs and live franchise ARG architecture. Detroit is AAA. Disco Elysium is text-heavy RPG. The gap between them is ConOps21."
ConOps21 is being evaluated on two parallel GDD paths. The franchise IP, world, characters, and canon are identical across both. What differs is production scope and audience positioning.
Demo builds follow the GDD X path — Interactive Drama Edition. Targeting literary readers, prestige TV audience, and narrative gamers simultaneously.
The full franchise vision. Requires Kickstarter funding, team assembly, and extended timeline. The IP architecture supports this scale.