Square Enix has announced today that the developer will be utilizing its presence as a multimedia producer to create a "Media Mix" series titled Deep Insanity. According to the initial announcement, this new IP will span over multiple interconnected releases that build the overall world through separate mediums, crossing over multiple Square Enix produced installments in the process.
This announcement has come with a rush of trailers and social media outreach, as Square Enix works quickly to build the hype for this unique "Media Mix" project that will include a game, an anime, and a manga. While this isn't the first multimedia release a game has gotten, this project appears to be more unique in that the multiple releases are meant to inform the IP as a whole, rather than the accompany the game on its own.
The new game itself is titled Deep Insanity Asylum, taking place in a future world that has been afflicted by a strange new illness released from an underground world in Antarctica. This title is set to release in September for Mobile and PC, though Square Enix's early announcements haven't yet described exactly what the gameplay is going to be. For now, players can get an idea of the post-apocalyptic world that the game will begin introducing before the serialized manga and anime continue to build on the franchise.
As for the anime, it is set to release in October under the name Deep Insanity The Lost Child, and will follow a separate character and storyline within the same overarching world. The manga, titled Deep Insanity Nirvana doesn't have a confirmed release window yet, but it does appear that it will also have its own story to tell apart from the other two installments. It's a bold move to deviate from the new titles coming to Square Enix's established franchises and IPs in order to create a new project that expands over three completely separate installments, but it could have a positive effect on each medium.
While this "Media Mix" style is new for Square Enix, this isn't the first time that the company has dipped into a multimedia release of a game. One of the most recent examples comes from the way that the developer introduced Final Fantasy 15's Noctis and some surrounding characters through both the Brotherhood anime and Kingsglaive movie. However, this is the first time that Square Enix has used these different mediums to expand and explore the connected world, as oppose to simply continuing a singular story or going in-depth on characterization.
Deep Insanity Asylum is set to release in September 2021, for Mobile and PC.
Source: Twinfinite