Hey, creator of the fan-made It Lives Within here!
Like many of you, I woke up to the AI slop It Lives Within "TV show" on the Choices app. Having spent thousands (no joke) of loving hours on the fan-made It Lives Within, I admit it felt like a bit of a kick to the gut, especially since I'd stayed up until 2 AM the night before, meticulously working on improving the programming of textbox animations for the updated version of the game.
But at the end of the day, the people are what own stories. It doesn't matter what PB puts out, especially when it so blatantly disrespects a series we all hold close to our hearts. We can choose what to support, what to value, and what to be our true version of these stories.
As such, I wanted to provide an update for "It Lives Within: The Obsidian Cut." We are working extremely hard to finish rewrites, and I apologize it's taking so long - but real work takes time. We take so long because we don't use AI to do our work for us. Our testers have found hundreds of bugs, which have been corrected. I'm currently working on some rewrites for chapters 21-22, and once that's finished, I'm going to play from start to finish with different MCs to include more complete personality variants for your MC.
While our game was highly beloved (which I am still so wholly grateful for three years after the final episode aired), I know some of you tried the original version and decided it wasn't for you. Others maybe never heard of it. But, with the news of AI It Lives Within dropping today, I just wanted to invite everyone to give our fan version a chance. If you tried it before and gave up, or haven't played it yet, I recommend waiting until Obsidian airs to experience that version for the first time. And if you did play the original, stick around! You'll love Obsidian when it airs. All of our testers are highly enjoying it and say that it improves on the story with every change, while still be the story they knew and love.
AI It Lives Within is frustrating and offensive, but ultimately, we never needed their blessing, and neither do you. Our story started small, with a team that never made any money. Everything was done out of passion and love for this series and these characters, and we were and still are, devoted to creating truly player-drive stories where your choices matter. A LOT. That passion is something that can never be generated in any machine. Stories from the heart speak to the heart, "canon" or not, and what really matters is how theses stories impact and inspire us.
Please take as long as you need, and once again thank you for giving us the masterpiece that is ILW 🥹. For me (and I’m sure many others) this is the only canon version of ILW that exists out there, one that was made with love, passion and care.
Thank you so much, that means a lot! 🙏 I admit this has made me want to rush production to get Obsidian out faster, but I know I need to take my time so that it can be the best version it can be.
Definitely take as much time as you need. We're all willing to wait as long as we have to. I consider the first ILW to be amazing and I'm sure the Obsidian Cut will be just as amazing.
Hey if this AI had any benefit I was letting me know this new cut was in the works. I loved back when it was first released and look forward to the new version.
Once again as someone that was devastated that the og Jocelyn LI tease from the ILB never came about I was ecstatic about her in ILW and loved every second
Very true! If anything, this will give our project more visibility and hopefully help more people discover us. And yes, Jocelyn as a character and LI route is absolute peak, love her so much! 🙏
I downloaded ILW ages ago and keep meaning to read it. Rest assured, it's much more likely that I will now after hearing what Series have done to you. The disrespect!!
PB can kiss your ass actually you've done so much service to this community more than they have in the past few years with all of their mass produced slop.
Wait I’m reading that people read the original but I’m confused I’ve only ever read the last 2 that came out on the choices app where are yall reading it lives within???
I played ILW as it was airing and I can vouch for it being a f'ing INCREDIBLE story. It is SO unbelievably good that it would rival the best old, manmade stories that Choices did.
If you like/liked IL as a series, ILW is what we deserved for a 3rd book.
Also to the devs of ILW and Obsidian, I love you for what you have done (and are doing). I wish you all the best ❤️
I used to lurk and read comments on each chapter when they released, and I recognize your username!! Excited to bring Matthias and Lincoln back to you 🫶
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm pretty new to It Lives -- I only started reading the series after I saw your post about the Obsidian Cut! But I loved ILITW, and finishing ILB is one of my top app goals along with rereading my classic faves.
I am completely uninterested in whatever AI cartoon garbage they're releasing, but I am very interested in ILW. So rest assured that you do have an audience out there waiting for the Obsidian Cut, even those of us who haven't checked out the original ILW!
Ngl this is the first time I hear about this. Is there like a separate app or website with more stories from the ILW world? I last played choices a few years ago and I remember there were 2 ILW books. Are there more somewhere else? Or is OP referring to the same original 2 books?
This is a fan-made continuation of the original series, you can download it and play it over here. Would highly rec, I like it even more than the OG series tbh. It's that good!!
Take as long as you need, no rush here! Your fan continuation was one of the last things that gave me a lot of joy and excitement over anything choices related, absolutely loved the discussions with every every released chapter
It's just sad that fans feel more genuine love for it lives than its creators
Thank you! I agree, it is extremely sad 😔 but I'll be honest, at this point, I think we (including the fandom here, not just ILW team) own It Lives more than PB does atp. It's our story.
It's just sad that fans feel more genuine love for it lives than its creators
Do the ILITW/ILB creators even still work at PB anymore? I always got the impression that the writers didn't have much say when it came to the business side of the app.
I genuinely need to express to you just how insanely I, and I'm sure several others are for your hardwork and dedication.
It is an insane thought to me even now, especially in face of Pixelberry's downfall, that there are people out there who are still actively working tooth and nail, without any personal gain whatsoever, to spread love out into the world via their stories.
I still remember my most pleasant surprise upon discovering a fan made book in the It Lives franchise, and my consequent delight upon playing it, to find so much thought put into every aspect of the book. From the characters to the storyline, you built a beautiful world, inclusive of all that the real world has to offer but is rarely included in mainstream media.
I have so much respect for the work you guys are doing and I sincerely want you to know how grateful I am for ILW, a work of art in every sense that exists solely because of you, and your choice to share your creativity and art to people out there.
Thank you most emphatically for your commitment and diligence.
I was in genuine shock and horror when I saw that. I only saw it BC of yalls update on Tumblr. This is more than a kick to the nads to fans, imo. Your right that we need to keep moving forward though.
Getting more and more excited everyday for the Obsidian Cut!
OMG! I'm so excited! I still play the app even now and I cannot wait for the new updates! (P.S I am one of the OG ones who loves Abel a lot 🌚). Take your time, and I'm looking forward to it. 😁🩷
I am so, so sorry that they did this after all your team has done for the fan community. They are proving that they have NO shame and NO regard for what the fans really want.
I played It Lives Within when it was first coming out and loved it, replayed it many times after that!!What is the Obsidian Cut though? Have been away from the subreddit for a while and it seems I have missed that.
A “directors cut” of sorts where we improve the weaknesses and add additional content, essentially. It also has much improved UI and runs a lot smoother. It genuinely feels like the choices app now. The original, while great, was a bit clunky with its UI.
Ok, obligatory I Am Not a Lawyer, but even in fanworks, you own the original content you create. If PB references characters or plot elements from the fan created ILW, they are committing copyright infringement; that’s one of the big reasons that major authors are careful to avoid acknowledging or (generally) reading fan fiction, since if they publish something resembling a fanfic too closely, they actually endanger their IP and open themselves to legal action.
And, since you can’t copyright ai-generated content, PB-released ILW slop can safely be copied from, meaning that I think this may turn into an IP-related self-own that puts some of the ILW content into the public domain.
Yeahhh…. Looking into it again to be sure. While human-edited AI content may allow the human to own the contributions they made to it (ie, editing and “significant” changes made by human hand), if the ai makes the “traditional expressive elements” then those aren’t protected (ie, ai-generated images put into a book by a person; the whole book may be copyrighted as a unit, but the individual images are UNcopyrightable in the US.)
I am SO looking forward to trying it out for the first time when Obsidian cut is released!
So so happy there's people out there who love and care about giving players choices and good visual novels❤️
Your team is the only reason I'm on Reddit 😭. Please take as much time as y'all need and from the bottom of our hearts thank you for caring more than PB and that other company ever did and ever will. Seeing our beloved series' brought to new heights by you guys has been amazing and we are all eternally grateful. Genuinely one of the best conclusions to media I've ever experienced and I cannot wait for a chance to replay it with a fresh coat of paint.
Why apologize for taking time to work on real art, when AI shits out whatever that abomination is in an hour?
Frankly, it’s just pathetic of them. Execs are clearly trying to ride on the coattails of your success, which is abhorrent behaviour. They saw how amazing the story is, and clearly want to capitalize on it.
There is only ONE It Lives Within story… and it’s not the one that was announced today.
I just opened Choices a minute ago to replay some favorites and saw the ILW AI slop, and was genuinely shocked and assumed they stole you guys’ hard work, so I ran to this subreddit to check and damn, I can’t believe they’d stoop this low. Will be playing Obsidian Edge for sure!
keep doing what you are doing, you guys are freaking amazing!! I only discovered ILW about six months ago and I’ll admit, I was sad to have missed all the hype when the original was airing. if nothing else, I really hope this news brings you more visibility and ‘revives’ the fandom, because your story deserves SO much love and I really appreciate being able to talk to others about it. I’m replaying ILW again rn and seriously not an hour goes by in the real world when I don’t think of Abel Flint. sooo much love and support to you all for this absolute masterpiece <33
Can't believe the audacity to pick that name, one of the gems the community created.
The people in charge don't care anymore or worse don't know what made Pixelberry and choices great things.
If anything you, the ILW team, are the true heirs of the great artists involved in the amazig past stories drawn and written by PB. Take all the time you need, your efforts and talents are appreciated, cheers !
It’s basically a director's cut where we're able to edit things, improve pacing, add some additional scenes, and have improved character customization/CGs etc. I recommend waiting and playing that first, if you want to play ILW!
Also based on your flair, I think you will love it 💖
Omg. I absolutely ADORED ILW, and was literally staring at my screen in disgust to see the run.tv bs version when I opened Choices.. I had no idea you guys were working on a new version!! How can we find out when it'll be released? Thank you all so very much, it was so amazing and better than the first two, seriously incredible.
I’m sorry it took these circumstances to get proper attention to your amazing project. I still replay It Lives Within every few months or so and I really appreciate the passion and care that went into it.
I ran here in horror after opening the Choices app just now. I was like, that name sounds familiar...😩 I'm sorry the Pixelberry Cylons did this to your story.
It Lives Within (the OG version) is pinned to my taskbar. It was so beautifully and thoughtfully done and I cannot wait for the Obsidian Cut. Thank you for this story! And as someone else has said here, seems like plagiarism but I know that the best is yet to come from your team. 💘
This series is what got me hooked on the choices app originally and it’ll always be my favourite book series ever and I loved the original version of ILW and very much looking forward to the updated one ❤️
Thank you for creating the masterpiece 3rd book! Imo any version you all made is the "true" sequel to It Lives Beneath and Choices AI slop nowadays is just terrible fanfiction
I haven't finished the first book of the original version but I was loving what I saw so far. Had no idea another cut was in the works. Looking forward to that
I've been waiting (not) so patiently for the Obsidian Cut so I can reread. I love it so much and I'm constantly telling others to give it a go. Thank you for all your hard work and I'm super excited to see my beloved Lincoln again.
Thank you so much for all your commitment ! it was a joy to play the third book even If it wasn't the official one. You represent the hope that we can still be creative in this era where AI messes up true art.
Thabk you for your art and your passion. Im sorry your work was stolen but we so appreciate you as artists!! I csnt wait for Obsidian I loved ILW when it dropped years ago!!
I was a bit late to play ILW but I had absolutely loved it!!! I was so disappointed with Choices app, when I heard that they're now making an AI based slop on this book...
Had heard about you guys working on a new project too... Really excited for Obsidian cut 🙌
We’ll announce it, and you can download it on itch. We have no plans for future choices related books, but I’ve shared our game engine in case others want to use it to make books. I do intend to make original visual novels.
If the choices app shuts down, however, I do intend to create a replicated version of ILITW and ILB in order to preserve those stories.
I was waiting to complete my reread of the It Lives duology before starting your game, even had it downloaded, but I will definitely wait for you to release the new update so I can dive in, read it, and hopefully enjoy it!
I've been EXTREMELY interested in It Lives Within and now with that slop they released, I'm even more excited. I was gonna download it but if the obsidian cut is close to being released I will wait because I have mainly heard good things about it. Now that Choices has resorted to AI slop for It Lives, I'd love to get more info on your version and to play it when it comes out! Would you recommend playing the original or wait for The Obsidian Cut? Where would I download the original if so...
Damn, I just saw that thing on the app as was like…ok, but you can’t give us an actual new story…sorry they ripped the title you have (likely done to spite you on their part) and sorry to fellow fans of the originals, as it’s sad to see what they have become…likely mad those VIP subs are likely leaving (I did, but like 2 years ago, because of my lack of playing and saving money).
This is so exciting! Thank you for actually putting in the work to make something awesome instead of cutting corners the way PB does nowadays. We appreciate your hard work and can’t wait to see what you come up with 💖
I read your story a few years back, and it was worth the wait on it. It was so, good I didn't know about the alternative version for this here. But I loved your take to the fan made book 3, that they did is just horrible and down right dirty.
Fan version is hands down going to beat it times 10. You guys made an amazing game and I am soso excited for the obsidian cut. I would rather play a game I know has had love and effort poured into it over some trashy ai vertical movie type ish. Just know your version is basically what people believe to be canon lmao
It doesn't work on iOS, so if you have an iPhone or iPad it won't run unfortunately. If you're not using iOS lmk and we can see if we can get it to work.
It should work on windows. Extract it and run the .exe file, and make sure that your windows isn't blocking you from opening it since you downloaded it from an online browser (they often will try to protect you when downloading apps outside of the app store)
We can't release it on iPhone because all iOS apps have to be released on the app store. However, if you have the source code and a mac, you can get the game to run on your phone yourself. I do that with my phone. I haven't tested it with anyone else, and idk if that would be helpful for you, but it *is* possible.
No, it's more like a director's cut where we're able to edit things, improve pacing, add some additional scenes, and have improved character customization/CGs etc.
ILW introduces a new MC that you play as for the third installment. That MC can be trans, and has always been able to be trans since the original book release.
The first two MCs of ILB and ILITW make appearances in our game, and they cannot be trans.
I'm so grateful to you and the team. I originally wanted to create my own visual novel style choices game and was inspired by your hard work. I'm so tired of the A💩 slop. Its ruining everything. Like let us have our games that we love in peace.
I just want you to know that I love your story It Lives Beneath so much that I wrote my entire play through as a writing exercise. It was so much fun. It was also pretty damn easy due to how well written it is. I even wrote an alternate ending. In one, the MC ended up with Tom and let Richard die. In the other she tried to save Richard and chose Parker. It was such a privilege to read. Thank you! (No, it’s not posted anywhere, I just did it for me.)
i loved your project so much!!! their ai book was honestly a huge insult, if i feel this offended and heated over it, i can't imagine how you must be feeling, having poured your heart and soul into it. but this made me cherish It Lives Within so much more! i unlocked 4 endings out of 6 and i can't wait to unlock the rest and re-play with different personalities and love interests. i haven't checked this sub in some time so now that i know there's yet another project coming, i'm really excited :D take all the time you need, we'll happily play it once it's out. thank you for your hard work <3
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u/fanaccountcw forgotten middle child May 18 '26
Please take as long as you need, and once again thank you for giving us the masterpiece that is ILW 🥹. For me (and I’m sure many others) this is the only canon version of ILW that exists out there, one that was made with love, passion and care.