Deck Nine

Idol Minds, LLC (doing business as Deck Nine or Deck Nine Games 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. Lyons serves as president and chief technology officer of the company.

History
Idol Minds was founded by programmer Mark Lyons and artist Scott Atkins. They had previously worked for Sony Interactive Studios America in San Diego and, after Lyons moved to Colorado with his family, established Idol Minds on April 1, 1997, in Boulder, Colorado. It developed sports games under 989 Studios. In November 2007, the studio released ragdoll physics-based game Pain, which was among the most-downloaded games on PlayStation Network of 2008. In October 2009, Idol Minds reportedly made 26 of its 46 employees redundant. One source attributed the layoffs to budget cuts by Pain publisher Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), which was Idol Minds' only source of funding.

At E3 2011, SCE announced Ruin, a "Diablo-style action role-playing game" developed by Idol Minds and SCE's San Diego Studio. 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 ). Later in 2012, Idol Minds shifted its focus onto mobile free-to-play games. 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).

On May 31, 2017, Idol Minds announced that it would focus on narrative-driven games with brand and trade name "Deck Nine", an homage to 1983 video game Planetfall. It built toolset StoryForge for creating these and was developing a project in a "critically acclaimed franchise". 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. The game's first episode was announced for release in August 2017. In September 2018, Deck Nine announced it was working with Square Enix on a new project.

In March 2021, Square Enix announced Life Is Strange: True Colors and the Life Is Strange Remastered Collection (containing remasters of Before the Storm and the original Life Is Strange), both remastered by Deck Nine, for release in September 2021. 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. In December 2021, Telltale Games announced to be co-developing The Expanse: A Telltale Series with Deck Nine during The Game Awards 2021. Life Is Strange Remastered Collection was released in February 2022.

In May 2023, Deck Nine reportedly laid off 30 employees. In February 2024, Deck Nine confirmed that it would lay off 20% of its staff. 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.