For years, SUBNET lived in the shadows. Not just in its fiction, but in reality too.

Back in the early 2010s, I threw everything into this universe. At its peak I had 20+ people working with me – artists, designers, modellers, and a composer. We built prototypes, drafted stories, designed systems, and pushed the SUBNET immersive sim I’ve always dreamed of toward becoming something tangible.

And then life hit. Careers, families, bills, responsibilities. Slowly the momentum faded, and I burned out. SUBNET didn’t die, but it went dormant, and the tech we built it on went out of date quickly. The lore, the timelines, the characters – all of it sat in hard drives and folders, waiting.

But here’s the truth: I never stopped thinking about it.

SUBNET has always been more than a hobby project. It’s a story I was born to tell: a British cyberpunk universe built on 200+ years of dystopian history. It’s Old Tramford, a slum buried beneath The Crust. It’s Anu, the artificial super intelligence benevolently steering humanity through an over-populated, over-stimulated existence via ESOS. It’s Moorfield PMC, enforcing compliance with boots and drones. It’s Ghosteurs, risking their lives to steal forbidden information.

The scaffolding for a whole universe is here, and I finally have the chance to share it with you.

Thank You

Before I go further: a massive thanks is due to everyone who helped get SUBNET as far as it did almost a decade ago – collaborators both paid and unpaid, who gave their time, energy, and talent, and of course the early fans who believed in the project when it first sparked to life.

This time I’m approaching it with more realism, patience, and focus. I want to retain creative control of the IP and the products I create, while opening the doors for others to contribute in ways that strengthen the universe rather than dilute it.

Reigniting the Spark

Over the past 18 months, I’ve been stoking the fire again – expanding my network, developing the business side, and using the experience and wisdom I’ve gained to refocus SUBNET as an IP-first creative studio.

The world itself is fully realised. What I need now is help: people, funding, art, and contacts. SUBNET is too big to stay locked away – and I want to reignite the spark that once had 20 people building alongside me.

I’ll be using:

  • X for social media updates, where we already have a decent following.
  • Patreon for exclusive early access, lore drops, and much more detailed devlogs.
  • Kickstarter to fund prototypes and get them into fans’ hands.
  • And this new website as the gateway into the universe – but be warned, it may be an unreliable narrator…

A Note on AI

I want to be clear: my goal is to give people jobs, to commission unique, human-made, unforgettable art. But I am but a speck in this vast unknown, with a vision that outweighs my individual capability. I fully support humanity, and more specifically, the creative industry, but SUBNET would remain on my hard drive forever without the visualisations I need so much.

As ironic as it may be – considering I’m building a universe where AI defines so much of life – today’s AI tools have enabled me to push SUBNET further and faster than I ever could alone. They help me build prototypes, automate repetitive tasks, and focus on design, writing, development, and storytelling. AI is not a replacement for human individuality – it’s a tool.

When used correctly, and with careful curation, AI can be an incredible ally for small creators like me. Without it, I’d be stuck at the starting line – begging, borrowing, and burning out again. The barrier to entry in today’s saturated media world is high, and budgets are thin. AI has helped me break through it, but the long-term goal is always to bring real people back on board, but only when I have the capacity and budget to do so.

The Future

This is SUBNET’s second life. Slower, steadier, sharper. The board game is the starting point, but the endgame is much bigger: digital games, stories, and an IP that stands on its own in the crowded world of cyberpunk.

If you want to go deeper – to uncover the truth, classified histories, unreleased design docs, print-and-play prototypes – you’ll find them on Patreon.

SUBNET is back. And this time, it’s built to last.