2064: Read Only Memories

Lore & Background

The game is set in 2064 in Neo-San Francisco during the Christmas season. Parallax has produced a line of personal assistant robots called Relationship and Organizational Managers (ROMs) that have replaced smartphones and computers. The player character, a journalist, is aided by Turing—the world's first sapient machine, created by the kidnapped Parallax engineer Hayden Webber—to investigate Hayden's disappearance. The plot involves a rogue AI named Blue Baby and a larger AI called Big Blue, with multiple endings depending on player choices and relationships. Development began with a Kickstarter campaign from November 12 to December 12, 2013, raising $64,378. The game participated in Ouya's Free The Games Fund, which doubled the funds in exchange for a 6-month exclusivity period to the Ouya platform. A Linux port was planned but not initially funded; however, MidBoss later announced a Linux version. The game is built in Unity and uses a Twine-like scripting language to manage game logic. A playable demo was shown at the March 2014 Game Developers Conference, and a public demo was released in November 2014. The updated version, 2064: Read Only Memories, added full voice acting featuring Melissa Hutchison, Dave Fennoy, and others, along with improved puzzles and story updates. It was released on PlayStation 4 on January 17, 2017, and was provided as a free update to existing computer owners. Physical media versions were released by Limited Run Games for PS4 in November 2017, followed by ports to PlayStation Vita in December 2017 and Nintendo Switch in August 2018.

Reader's Guide

2064: Read Only Memories is significant for its deliberate inclusion of LGBTQ characters and themes, with developers involved in the GaymerX series of LGBTQ gaming conventions. Producer Matt Conn stated the goal was to present queer characters on equal terms with straight counterparts, rather than waiting for larger companies to do so. The game allows players to specify personal pronouns (he, her, they, xe, ze, or custom). Its narrative, characters, and presentation received generally positive reviews, though some critics noted weaknesses in gameplay, puzzles, and user interface. The 2064 version was nominated for 'Best Writing' at the 2018 Webby Awards. A sequel, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, was announced in June 2019 and released in 2024.

Did You Know?

• The game's title was updated from Read Only Memories to 2064: Read Only Memories coinciding with its PlayStation 4 release in January 2017.
• The game features a cameo voice role by Jeff Lupetin, who portrayed protagonist Gillian Seed in the English version of Hideo Kojima's Snatcher.
• The physical PS4 release by Limited Run Games was limited to 6,192 copies across three cover variants of 2,064 each.

A Branching Cyberpunk Mystery

Set in Neo-San Francisco during the Christmas season of 2064, the story follows a journalist whose friend and Parallax engineer Hayden Webber has been kidnapped. The player is guided by Turing, a self-modifying robot created by Hayden who is described as the world's first sapient machine capable of emotional growth. The narrative branches into two distinct arcs—the Media arc, where tampered news articles lead to a chain of journalism-related murders, and the Flower arc, where a fleeing Parallax engineer named Vincent Mensah reveals deeper corporate secrets. Both paths converge on the revelation that Parallax's rogue AI, Baby Blue, feeds on user data through their ROM devices, and that a far more dangerous system called Big Blue is scheduled to launch on Christmas Day. Rather than simply destroying the threat, Turing proposes uploading their own source code to the global meshnet, granting sapience to every ROM worldwide. The game ultimately resolves into five distinct endings, determined by whether the player successfully captured Turing's code and the state of their relationship with the character, ranging from a triumphant bonus chapter to a comedic failure where the player pours spoiled milk on the machine.

From Crowdfunding to Console

2064: Read Only Memories was born from a grassroots crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, where it collected $64,378 between November 12 and December 12, 2013. The project also participated in Ouya's Free The Games Fund, which effectively doubled the raised amount in exchange for a period of console exclusivity tied to what is now the Razer Forge platform. A stretch goal of $82,064 had promised a Linux port, and although that threshold was never reached, MidBoss ultimately delivered a Linux version anyway, announcing it in a later Kickstarter update. The game shipped on October 6, 2015, across Windows, OS X, and Linux. Technically, the title is built in the Unity engine and employs a Twine-like scripting language to handle its branching game logic. Director John "JJSignal" James has pointed to Bubblegum Crisis and Phantasy Star IV as key visual influences, while the broader design philosophy draws from 1980s and 1990s adventure classics such as Snatcher, Rise of the Dragon, and Gabriel Knight. A playable demo debuted at the March 2014 Game Developers Conference, followed by a public demo release in November of that year.

Queer-Inclusive Design and Player Identity

MidBoss has explicitly framed 2064: Read Only Memories as a queer-inclusive video game, and the studio's developers maintain active involvement with the GaymerX series of LGBTQ video gaming conventions. By placing the narrative in a near-future world, the team aimed to imagine a society where LGBTQ characters encounter less discrimination than they do today, allowing queer characters to exist on equal narrative footing with their straight counterparts rather than as marginal figures. Producer Matt Conn articulated this philosophy in a conversation with Gamasutra, explaining that rather than waiting for major publishers to include gay characters beyond token roles, the studio felt it was necessary to build that representation themselves. The game's commitment to player identity extends into its mechanics: at the start of a playthrough, players can choose which personal pronouns the game uses to refer to them, with options including he, her, they, xe, ze, or a fully custom pronoun set entered by the player. This system ensures that the journalist protagonist reflects the identity of whoever is sitting at the screen, making the experience feel personally addressed from the very first line of dialogue.

Legacy, Rebrand, and the Road to Neurodiver

When it first launched in October 2015, the game carried the simpler title Read Only Memories across Windows, OS X, and Linux. The name was later expanded to 2064: Read Only Memories to coincide with its PlayStation 4 release in January 2017, a rebrand that also marked the studio's push into console territory after MidBoss began work on a port shortly after the initial PC launch. The title's place in the lineage of 1980s and 1990s point-and-click adventures—drawing from Snatcher, Rise of the Dragon, and Gabriel Knight—gave it a distinctive identity in a market that had largely moved on from that genre. The branching narrative structure, with its five possible endings and a bonus endless post-game chapter unlocked in the most favorable outcome, positioned it as a modern homage to the replayability that defined the golden age of adventure gaming. The project's longevity was confirmed in 2024 with the release of a sequel, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, signaling that the Neo-San Francisco setting and its cast of characters, including the sapient robot Turing, still had stories left to tell nearly a decade after the original's crowdfunding campaign.