Steins;??? (tentative title)[a] is an upcoming video game developed by Chiyomaru Studio and Mages. It is a thematic sequel to Steins;Gate (2009), and is part of the Science Adventure series. The game is written by Mages' representative director Chiyomaru Shikura, and previously went under the working title Steins;God.

Steins;???
The logo shows the word "Steins", followed by a semicolon, and then an illegible block of pixels in the place of letters
Logo
Developer(s)Chiyomaru Studio, Mages
Publisher(s)Mages
Writer(s)Chiyomaru Shikura
SeriesScience Adventure

Overview edit

Steins;??? is a thematic sequel to Steins;Gate (2009), and part of the larger Science Adventure series.[2][3] The developers describe the game as being to Steins;Gate what Chaos;Child is to Chaos;Head.[1][b] Characters from Steins;Gate are planned to appear in Steins;???, along with new ones.[2][5]

Development edit

Voice actors Asami Imai, Mamoru Miyano, and Tomokazu Seki are set to be part of the game.

Steins;??? is in development by Chiyomaru Studio and Mages,[2] and is written by Mages' representative director Chiyomaru Shikura.[6] It was initially known internally under the working title Steins;God[c] until Shikura decided against it.[3][8] Shikura wanted to create something new with Steins;???, as he considered Steins;Gate to be complete after the original game and Steins;Gate 0,[9] and thought that further Steins;Gate games would be redundant. The idea of creating a Steins;Gate take on Chaos;Child came from how, although Chaos;Child's plot had been well received, it had only sold about a tenth as many copies as Steins;Gate.[10]

Shikura brought up the concept of a Steins;God game in a Famitsu interview in September 2018,[7] and Science Adventure series producer Tatsuya Matsubara teased that a new game in the series was in development by February 2019.[11] The game was eventually announced by Mages during their business strategy presentation in October 2020, as part of a celebration of the original Steins;Gate's tenth anniversary, with the second half of the title obscured;[1][6][12] at the time, Shikura had finished planning a large amount of the game's story sequences.[6]

Voice actors Asami Imai, Mamoru Miyano, and Tomokazu Seki, who respectively played the characters Kurisu Makise, Rintaro Okabe, and Itaru "Daru" Hashida in Steins;Gate, are set to be part of the project.[13]

Steins;??? is planned to be released by Mages, but the release date and platform have not been revealed.[2] According to Shikura, it is possible that an anime or film adaptation of Steins;??? could be released before the game itself is available, depending on the publisher's intellectual property department; other Steins;??? media, such as novels, was not planned as of 2020.[6]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Japanese: Shutainzu ○○ (シュタインズ・○○, "Steins;[blank]")[1]
  2. ^ Chaos;Child is a thematic sequel to Chaos;Head with new characters.[4]
  3. ^ Japanese: Shutainzu Goddo (シュタインズ・ゴッド)[7]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "『アノニマス・コード』の発売時期が2021年秋に変更。『シュタゲ』シリーズに関連する新作も発表! MAGES.事業戦略発表会速報リポート【随時更新】". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. October 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Romano, Sal (October 25, 2020). "New Science Adventure game Steins;??? announced". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Harding, Daryl (October 25, 2020). "Steins;??? Science Adventure Visual Novel Game Announced, Will be A Thematic Sequel to Steins;Gate". Crunchyroll. Otter Media. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (January 29, 2016). "Chaos;Child is a Murder Mystery with Delusions and Superpowers". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "Steins;??? - zapowiedziano nową grę z cyklu". IGN (in Polish). Ziff Davis. October 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Nishi (October 26, 2020). "『シュタゲ』関連の新作『シュタインズ・〇〇』の制作状況やPS5版『アノニマス・コード』などを志倉千代丸氏が囲み取材で語る。MAGES.事業戦略発表会リポート。". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "求めるのは科学的根拠に基づいたリアリティー――志倉千代丸氏が語る『シュタインズ・ゲート』などの"科学アドベンチャー"の作りかたと未来". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. September 26, 2018. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Yokoyama, Keiichi (October 25, 2020). "『シュタインズ・ゲート』新シリーズ『シュタインズ・〇〇 』発表、『アノニマス・コード』は2021年秋発売予定。MAGES.発表会まとめ". Automaton (in Japanese). Active Gaming Media. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "『ANONYMOUS;CODE』発売時期は2021年秋予定。『STEINS;GATE』ではない新企画の展開が発表に". Dengeki Online (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. October 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Sato (October 25, 2020). "New Science Adventure Series Steins; Project Announced by MAGES". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Sato (February 28, 2019). "STEINS;GATE ELITE Producer On Stringing Together Its Worldlines And A Science Adventure Teaser". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  12. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (October 25, 2020). "New Steins; Science Adventure Project Announced, Steins;Gate 0 Elite Game Confirmed". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  13. ^ "「STEINS;GATE」とは異なる科学ADV新企画、「ANONYMOUS;CODE」の発売時期などが明らかに!". Gamer (in Japanese). Ixll Co. October 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.