The movie is based on the urban legend of Polybius, a video game that supposedly surfaced in Portland in the early 1980s as part of a government mind-control experiment which produced addictive and psychoactive effects in players.
Lyle Kanouse (Jerry, Oz's boss) and Audrey Wasilewski (Audrey, the bartender) are the godparents of writer-director Graham Skipper. Kanouse and Wasilewski liked the script and decided to produce and appear in the movie.
Chase Williamson suggested casting Fabianne Therese as his love interest. The two became friends after appearing together in John Dies at the End (2012).