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Press release:
TOKYO – Sept. 15, 2022.
“NeverAwake“, the nightmarish twin-stick shoot ‘em up set in a world of a young girl’s fears and horrors, from developer Neotro Inc. and publisher Phoenixx, takes on a realm of nightmares on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, as revealed during Tokyo Game Show.

Childhood nightmares will last forever, thanks to a physical release in Western territories through a partner to be announced later and in Eastern regions through Happinet. Physical preorders will open in the coming months for Vermillion Gate Grand Prize winner at BitSummit 2022, Japan’s most prestigious indie game festival. Bedtime comes first for PC sleepers, with a Steam version for PC arriving on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

Explore the nightmares of Rem, a little girl shackled in her nightmares by her fear of vegetables, dentists, and her classmates. She summons up the internal strength to fight against her tormentors, wielding a demonic, dragon-shaped gun that can vanquish these twisted abominations. Square off against giant, grotesque bosses, all hand-animated with incredible detail.

Fight against waves of imaginary monsters in more than 80 looping, side-scrolling levels, dodging, aiming, and shooting in 360-degree combat to defeat enemies, and collect the souls of defeated monsters to complete each level. Failing to collect 100 percent souls on the first loop leads to more dangerous levels on the next loop. Spend collected souls on upgrades and a temporary powerup to make the stage easier if things get too nightmarish.

“I wanted to make a shooter that would not only be accessible to those who already enjoy fast-paced shooters, but those who are less skilled and just want to enjoy the art and atmosphere,” said Hiroshi Sawatari, founder, Neotro Inc.

“But make no mistake, those who want a challenge from NeverAwake can find plenty of features like branching paths and high score leaderboards to get the most out of the game.”

NeverAwake releases Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch for $19.99, and support for English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language text. Limited Run Games and Happinet will offer physical version pre-orders in the coming months. NeverAwake releases on PC on Steam on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

For more information, visit the official NeverAwake website, and follow Neotro Inc. on Twitter.

About Neotro Inc.
Neotro Inc. is a Japanese independent game development company based in Yokohama with a particular affection for arcade games and has previously released the 2D fantasy side-scrolling shooters VRITRA Complete Edition and VRITRA HEXA for exA-Arcadia. By bringing two words “Neo” and “Retro” together, Neotro Inc. chose their name to follow the saying “OnkoShuin”（温故知新, which translates to “learning from the past” and “carrying old wisdom to create new.”

About Phoenixx
Established in 2019 by industry veterans, Phoenixx aims to support innovative and creative developers from Japan and around the world. Its mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one creator, one game, and one community at a time.

To learn more, visit the Phoenixx official website, Phoenixx Facebook page, and follow @Phoenixx_inc on Twitter.