It’s 20XX. Everyone plays Fox at a TAS level, the environment has gone into total collapse, the world is fractured, and corporations control the world. That is the basic gist of 20XX. It is a cyberpunk (lowercase c) world that has seen itself leave the glitz and neon lights of it's archetype and go into total ruin because of corporate greed. It is aimed to be a near future setting which feels strangely familiar both by our real world and it's genre influences.
As of February 23rd, 2026 the current latest point of the world is ca. 2093, 67 years from now and 87 years from the birth of the anchor character of the setting, Franklin Crye. This period was chosen as it felt far enough into the future for the state of things to advance dramatically, but also giving enough room for even more drastic changes to occur in the setting's future (i.e. space travel, teleportation, Star Trek things, etc.).
When choosing the name “20XX”, it was supposed to be a placeholder. I had no intention of keeping it, and actually tried to replace it multiple times. When I found out about it’s connection to the Mega Man franchise and the Melee community, I felt an even greater urge to replace it. Alas, nothing has stuck in my mind as it has. The name represents the timelessness of which I aim to create; A barely attainable (and hopefully never achievable) future which is so alluring yet unwelcoming at the same time. But what is it actually?
The short and skinny of it is; 20XX is a retro futuristic world where technology is a mis-matched mix of 80s, 90s and early 2000s, and the times of neon / LED fantasies have passed you by about 50 years. The now is the late 2X century and the wars waged by the corporations are finally over. You now live in the city of San Francisco, a semi-sovereign mega city encompassing the entirety of the bay area, controlled by the biggest corporation in the world, the Eshi Corporation. Many more city states exist just like this across the globe, owned and operated by many different international corporations. Your city just happens to be the techno-feudalistic surveillance state people consider the worst of the worst, and yet they are drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
It is a world I created about 4 years ago and have been slowly chipping away at ever since. The intention is to write a full novel, but I am so easily distracted by worldbuilding and character background to actually finish it. Hopefully with some eyes watching I'll finally get it done (fingers crossed).