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Press release:
TOKYO – June 29, 2023.
“NeverAwake“, the twin-stick shoot’em up set in the world of a young girl’s horrifying dreams from developer Neotro Inc and publisher Phoenixx, awakens on Xbox Series X|S today with an armory of new collaborative content debuting simultaneously on PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Blast through bad dreams with five new weapons from fellow shoot-em-up favorites including the “Sun Blade” from GRAND CROSS: ReNOVATION, “Emerald Vajra” from fantasy shooter VRITRA HEXA and the “Reflector” from DRAINUS, and mix up attack patterns with “head throw” from ElecHead, and “UFO Capsule” from Super UFO Fighter. Race to wake Rem up in the all-new Speedrun mode, and equip the new “Quick Badge” accessory for faster level progression.

Navigate through the critically-acclaimed imaginations of a schoolgirl stuck inside her own mind in a twin-stick bullet hell dreamscape. Unravel a touching narrative exploring childhood’s deepest darkest fears such as evil vegetables, dangerous dogs, the popular girl at school, and other adolescent phobias brought to life across more than 80 hand-drawn levels.

Confront the demons occupying Rem’s subconscious with an arsenal of weapons and accessories. Optimize Rem’s loadout for each level with wave-clearing 360-degree explosions, or go for single-target firepower with shotgun-like blasts and spray-and-pray machine gun options. Collect the souls left behind from destroyed enemies and purchase ability upgrades to stave off dozens of nightmarish bosses.

Put skills to the test in the secret HIMITSU CHALLENGE after clearing world 8, and deep-dive into Rem’s innermost thoughts with the official NeverAwake “Nightmare World Art” digital artbook and soundtrack featuring the lo-fi lullaby “AWAKE,” by DJ, singer-songwriter, and producer YonYon, streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.

Prestigious awards including the Famitsu Golden Hall of Fame entry in January 2023, First Selection designation of Tokyo Game Show 2022, and Best Game of 2022 at BitSummit have all been bestowed on this nightmarish adventure. With a Metacritic score of 84 overall, NeverAwake claimed the title of the 37th best reviewed PC game of 2022.

“It has been an honor to collaborate with and include content from our shoot’em up contemporaries,” said Azusa Kawamura, Producer at Phoenixx.

“We can’t wait for dreamers on Xbox to test out new builds with weapons from other games, and go for world records in speedrun mode!”

NeverAwake is now available on Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 for $24.99, as well as on PC via Steam for $19.99. Language support options include English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language text. The emotional “Nightmare World Art” digital artbook is also for sale on Steam for $7.99, as well as the NeverAwake soundtrack also for $7.99. A bundle with the game, artbook, and soundtrack is available for a 15% discount.

To learn more, visit the Phoenixx official website, Phoenixx Facebook page, and follow @Phoenixx_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.