Kickstarted in 2015 and in development for six years overall, Pixel Noir, created by SWDTech Games, has been picked up by indie publishing label BadLand Games, securing crucial support for distribution, marketing, QA testing, and multi-platform conversion. Which means the game is locked in for Q1 2018 release on PC (via Steam–it’s already been Greenlit!), PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One.
Featuring a gritty noir aesthetic and storyline mashed up with the 16-bit JRPG trappings (yes, Active Time Battles!) of classics like Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Final Fantasy, and Super Mario RPG, Pixel Noir stars a nameless, down-and-out Detective who’s plagued by hallucinations while fighting to clear his name after being convicted and spending a decade in the slammer for a crime he didn’t commit.
Also drawing inspiration from the likes of L.A Noire and Batman: Arkham Asylum, Pixel Noir will feature an investigation mode for uncovering clues, while the player’s overall inquisitiveness in exploring the world and chatting with NPCs will dictate character motivations and storylines.
A brief pre-alpha demo build is now available to download for anyone interested in taking an early sneak peek visit to the pixelated shithole that is Pinnacle City. It only takes about 10 minutes to complete, but it’s enough time to get a basic feel for the combat system, dialogue style, and world ambiance. By playing the demo and completing a survey BadLand Games has set up at badlandindie.com/pixel-noir, you can score a pair of songs from the game’s soundtrack, performed in-house by Kunal Majmudar in addition to Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
