Critical Role's development and production company, Metapigeon, acquires the sci-fi fantasy narrative podcast Midst. Critical Role is one of the world's fastest-growing independent media companies, growing beyond its initial actual play Dungeons & Dragons series. Critical Role has expanded into novels, comics, collectibles, podcasts, live events, and animated series. They have launched multiple subsidiaries, including Scanlan Shorthalt Music, Darrington Press, and Metapigeon. Metapigeon is not only dedicated to expanding the existing Critical Role world but also to developing, incubating, and guiding new original IPs both internally and in partnership with creators.
The first major projects under the Metapigeon banner are their animated series, including the acclaimed The Legend of Vox Machina and the highly anticipated Mighty Nein. Midst is the first IP to be acquired by Metapigeon and will be their first project outside the established Critical Role world. A major part of this acquisition is their partnership with the production studio Third Person and Midst's narrators to expand the brand of the podcast. Critical Role's SVP of Business and Content Development, Ben Van Der Fluit, expressed excitement about this new partnership and Metapigeon branching out into new IP. Check out what he had to say below.
As part of our ongoing effort to expand the types of narratives we share and elevate new storytellers, we remain focused on exploring diverse IP in a multitude of mediums. Working with the narrators of Midst has been a dream – we’re such fans of the world they have built, and we look forward to continuing to empower their creative dreams.
More About Critical Role's New Podcast Midst
Midst is narrated by three anonymous and playfully omniscient yet unreliable narrators. The series is set in Stationary Hill, on the islet of Midst, a space-western town. Life is simple until Midst sparks the interest of a mysterious and influential civilization known as the Trust. This causes an unexpected chain of events that will intertwine the lives of three very complicated and unlikely anti-heroes: a crotchety outlaw, a struggling cultist, and a diabolical bastard. Contending with unsolved murders, brainwashing cults, supernatural darkness, and Midst's moon, which is about to fall from the sky, causing reality to consume itself, sets the stage for a potentially cosmic train wreck. Midst is presented as an ongoing fictional series told as a turbulent present-tense stream of consciousness.
The action and characters are voiced by the narrators, who also break the fourth wall to engage directly with the listeners in order to better contextualize the series as well as tap into a certain mood, scene, and setting. Midst's goal is to immerse listeners in the uniquely original world of this story with a distinct narrative storytelling style and audio. Under Critical Role and Metapigeon, a remastered audio version of the first two seasons of Midst will be re-released along with a new video version of each episode. A third season and beyond are currently in development. Each episode will feature one or more original art pieces by notable artists including Ricardo Bessa, Lenka Simeckova, Sam Bosma, Artem Chebokha, Lap Pun Cheung, and Will Kirkby.
The first three episodes of the remastered podcast will debut on April 11, 12, and 13 on Critical Role's YouTube channel for free and will feature animated artwork that ties into each episode. They will also be released in podcast format across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Future episodes of Midst remastered will debut every Wednesday at 5 a.m. Pacific. Subscribers can pay $2.99 per month or $29.99 annually to gain early access to the first five episodes on April 11 and all future episodes two weeks before release, as well as an ad-free listening experience and access to lore-expanding bonus content, which includes documents, items, and artifacts from the world of Midst.