Bossa's 'Bradwell Electronics' website teases a 'better, brighter' mystery [Updated]

The Bradwell Electronics website makes a bold promise. "Better. Brighter. For everyone." Better and brighter what, exactly? It does not say. But it says there's a new company site coming soon, and provides a link to sign up for more information. And when you do, things start to get a little weird.

As is the norm for online mailing lists, signing up will get you a confirmation email, asking if you're sure that this is something you really want to do. It also thanks you for your interest, and talks a bit about the company's founding in 1964 by John Bradwell, and then—Interrupt stream! And an ominous message.

"This is a mayday alert. It is of concern to all of us. We ask you to trust us. We cannot do this alone."

The message is crammed in the middle of some base64 code that, after spending a very tiny amount of time on it, I believe is simply the Bradwell Electronics logo. (Please let me know if I'm wrong.) It also includes a copyright message attributing responsibility to Bossa Studios and A Brave Plan, which takes a little bit of the fun out of it. Bossa Studios is responsible for games including Surgeon Simulator, I Am Bread, Worlds Adrift, and most recently the Splatoon-esque Decksplash, while A Brave Plan's website lists no games but describes it as "a videogames and entertainment production company" founded in 2014 by Lionhead veteran Georg Backer.

As to what's going on, it's a mystery, and unsurprisingly, Bossa wasn't much help in clearing it up. "I can tell you that we're all super excited about it," a rep said. Pressed for details, the rep added, "All I can say is that it's the start of something..."

It's Bossa, so there are reasonably good odds that whatever this turns into will at least be interesting. We'll keep you posted.

Update: No spoilers, for the benefit of those who prefer to chase down mysteries unaided, but the Game Detectives subreddit has done its thing and unlocked a hidden secret. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have to wait awhile—until March 9—to find out what's going on. Click here for the full lowdown.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.