Psychic

What Psychic does

PSYCHIC: Purrivate Eye is an episodic 2D branching narrative adventure game released in 2017 by individual game producer/designer Ascot Smith and a team of approximately 15 contributors assembled through USC's Interactive Media and Games MFA Program. Players assume the role of telepathic detective John Hollis and his cat sidekick Devo, investigating the disappearance of a reality star who holds the cure to a deadly mind-altering Internet meme. The game is built on the Unity engine and is differentiated by a proprietary psychic interrogation mechanic that lets players uncover hidden thoughts and unlock new story branches, supported by a fully voice-acted dialogue system and an adaptive cat-sidekick hint system (Devo).

The title was distributed as a one-time-purchase download across Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Mac/OS, and Android app stores, with marketing reliant on platform-level app store discovery. Ascot Smith, the developer, is an individual game producer and writer based in Los Angeles whose broader portfolio spans voice platforms (Alexa, Google Assistant), smart cars, installations, and commissioned work for clients including Google, Amazon, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Mattel, BMW, Exploding Kittens, Dave & Busters, Bruner House, and Steelcase. Critically, "Psychic" is not a corporate entity — it is a single project in an individual's portfolio. There is no evidenced corporate structure, funding history, employee base beyond the project's MFA collaborators, or ongoing operational footprint beyond the 2017 launch.

Name

Psychic

Website

https://ascotjsmith.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

PSYCHIC: Purrivate Eye is an episodic 2D branching narrative detective game (2017) developed by Ascot Smith at USC's Interactive Media and Games MFA Program, distributed via one-time purchases on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Mac, and Android app stores.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Episodic Game Sales: PSYCHIC: Purrivate Eye was released as an episodic 2D branching narrative game distributed through app stores for Apple TV, Fire TV, Mac/OS platforms. Revenue generated through direct game sales and downloads.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Psychic: Purrivate Eye is an episodic 2D branching narrative game where players control telepathic detective John Hollis and his cat sidekick Devo to investigate a missing reality star who holds the cure to a deadly mind-altering Internet meme. The title was built on the Unity game engine and distributed through app stores for Apple TV, Fire TV, Mac/OS, and Android devices, featuring a fully voice-acted branching story with a unique psychic interrogation mechanic that unlocks new dialogue branches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSYCHIC: Purrivate Eye: An episodic 2D branching narrative game featuring telepathic detective duo John Hollis and his cat sidekick Devo. Players search for a missing reality star who holds the cure to a deadly mind-altering Internet meme. Features fully voice acted branching narrative, psychic interrogation mechanic, and cat-side kick help system.

Products and services

• Psychic: Purrivate Eye

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• USC Interactive Media and Games MFA ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017PSYCHIC: Purrivate Eye was developed at USC's Interactive Media and Games MFA Program with support of multiple team members including writer Devin Presbury, art director Natalie Gravier, game designer Steve Cha, engineer Izzy Benavente, and numerous animators and artists.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Inkle Studios: Inkle builds text-and-illustration driven interactive narrative games (80 Days, Sorcery!, Heaven's Vault) where player choices open new branches — the same design philosophy as Psychic's dialogue/interrogation system.
• Night School Studio: Night School (Oxenfree, Afterparty) makes character-driven narrative adventure games with supernatural hooks and choice-driven dialogue — directly comparable tone and mechanics to Psychic: Purrivate Eye.
• Supermassive Games: Supermassive makes choice-driven narrative horror/adventure titles (Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology) where player decisions branch the story — directly comparable mechanic to Psychic's interrogation-based branching.
• Telltale Games: Telltale Games is the canonical developer of episodic, branching-narrative adventure games (The Wolf Among Us, Batman, Tales from the Borderlands). Psychic: Purrivate Eye directly mirrors Telltale's model of voice-acted branching storylines with player-driven outcomes.
• Dontnod Entertainment: Dontnod created Life is Strange and Tell Me Why, narrative-driven episodic adventures centered on a protagonist with an unusual ability navigating mystery and relationships — directly comparable to Psychic's telepathic detective premise.
• Quantic Dream: Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human) pioneered the cinematic branching-narrative adventure genre with unique action mechanics layered on top of choice-based storytelling — a clear analog to Psychic's psychic-action layer over branching narrative.
• Choice of Games: Choice of Games publishes text-based interactive novels where player choices open branching storylines across multiple titles, sharing Psychic's core 'choice unlocks branch' mechanic at a much smaller scale.
• Sam Barlow / Half Mermaid: Half Mermaid (Her Story, Telling Lies, Immortality) makes investigation-focused narrative games where the player uncovers hidden information to progress — a mechanic directly analogous to Psychic's 'finding hidden thoughts' interrogation system.
• The Odd Gentlemen: The Odd Gentlemen (King's Quest 2015, Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales) builds adventure games with branching narrative and accessible hint systems — comparable craft area to the Psychic team's narrative-plus-hint design.
• Wales Interactive: Wales Interactive publishes FMV/choice-driven interactive movies (Late Shift, The Complex, Five Dates) shipped across consoles and streaming platforms — closely matching Psychic's TV-platform distribution and branching-episode model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ascot_world
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ascotsmith

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Psychic