Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth finally releases for PC in Japan, after being region locked for almost 7 years

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition finally launches on Windows in Japan, 7 years after its global release.

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Japanese publishers continue legal crackdown on sites hosting “detailed summaries” of movies. New case sees prison sentences and fines of up to $6k

CODA argued that such acts reduce willingness to pay for legitimate content distribution services, “seriously impacting the content industry.”

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Japanese visual novel Girlfailure Art Club, in which you spend your school days with four “cringey otaku girls,” gets Steam store page

Japanese solo developer Uka Todoki just announced the Steam Store page for their upcoming visual novel Girlfailure Art Club.

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Nexon’s 3D bishojo isekai game Project RX will offer a “completely different experience from Blue Archive,” with closed-beta coming in the near future - AUTOMATON WEST

In a recent interview, Nexon Games IO Division head Yongha Kim and deputy-head Min-Seo Cha talk about their upcoming game Project RX.

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All Our Broken Parts, a story-driven cyberpunk game where you repair ailing robots, gets Steam demo  - AUTOMATON WEST

In a world where humans have mysteriously vanished, you assume the role of a robot physician.

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Re:Night is a high-difficulty, mentally demanding SRPG x elemental deckbuilder, out now on Steam. A veteran SRPG developer breaks down what makes this game a "time thief" - AUTOMATON WEST

Re:Night immediately brings the SRPG genre to mind. With that in mind, we called Akihiro Togawa, who loves SRPGs and has developed them at Tookyo Games, to play the game for us.

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Japan launches “immersive” hand-tracking technology that lets you literally pet and stroke your favorite VTubers during meet-and-greets

Ohtani Design Laboratory recently launched their "V-Nade!" project, which allows fans to directly pet their oshi VTubers.

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Drunken Rogue, a dungeon-crawling RPG where heroines get stronger the drunker they become, launches on Steam on August 21

Drunken Rogue follows adventurer Lita as she sets out to find precious booze hidden in the Vampire King's Castle.

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Hyouka author’s mystery novel series turned into a VN by Urban Myth Dissolution Center and Schrödinger’s Call publisher Shueisha Games

Game publisher Shueisha unveils Seasons of Books and Keys, their newest visual novel adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's famous novel series.

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Yomawari devs’ farming sim Village in the Shade sells over 100k copies domestically, physical editions out of stock in stores across Japan

Village in the Shade released in Japan on July 30 to positive reception. A global release is scheduled to come around fall 2026.

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Danganronpa 2x2 devs cite needing time to play GTA 6 as one of the reasons behind remake's delay - AUTOMATON WEST

Danganronpa 2x2 will be releasing in 2027 instead of its original 2026 release window.

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Atelier Ryza “AI chat RPG” announced. Developers promise “no AI-generated artwork” and fair revenue sharing with voice actors

SpiralAI has announced RyzaChat: Your Midsummer Dream Story with AI Ryza (unofficial translation), an AI chat RPG based on the Atelier Ryza series. Co-developed alongside Koei Tecmo’s studio Gust, the game is scheduled to launch sometime in August 2026, with pre-registrations open starting today. This news comes following the announcement of Koei Tecmo’s partnership with the domestic AI startup.  RyzaChat is set on Kurken Island, the original world of Atelier Ryza, with progression unfolding solely through interactions with a Ryza-based conversational AI. The first objective will task players with helping Ryza build a boat to leave Kurken Island, which unlocks the world map upon completion. From there, new quests are generated as players advance, with the game promising an essentially unlimited number of personalized quests based on players’ conversations with the AI. The world map follows the original games’ setting, allowing players […]

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Wizardry Variants Daphne developer Drecom says wider adoption of payment methods that bypass high Apple and Google fees helped increase profit margins

However, Drecom explains that it still hasn't reached adoption levels compared to competing game developers.

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“Overwhelmingly Positive” horror game The Aquarium Does Not Dance is getting a prequel about a failed idol who wishes to die 

Developer Daidai has launched the Steam store page for The Aquarium Does Not Dance: The Idol Who Wants to Die.

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Senran Kagura developer Honey Parade Games may return to console games going forward, Marvelous CEO says 

The announcement was made during Marvelous's Q1 financial briefing.

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Shibuya Scramble Stories reaches over 400% of original goal in second round of crowdfunding, bouncing back from Ubgoe trouble

The Shibuya Scramble Stories project, led by creator Jiro Ishii, managed to amass over 43.6 million yen in the new crowdfunding campaign.

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Suikoden Star Leap launches August 7 in Japan, with global and PC release dates to follow 

Suikoden Star Leap, the Suikoden series' latest entry, has finally been announced for and August 7 launch in Japan.

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Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi addresses rumors about the grand finale, Advent Children ties, and possible DLC

Part 2 of AUTOMATON West's Final Fantasy VII Revelation interview with game director Naoki Hamaguchi.

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Touhou-inspired dark fantasy bullet hell shooter SANASANA announced for Steam. Beat three eccentric witches in search of legendary wish-granting apples 

Developed by Japanese indie developer Studio Charon, SANASANA is scheduled to launch in October 2026.

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Summer Snow. is a bittersweet coming-of-age mystery visual novel that tasks you with escaping an endlessly looping day by navigating missions from a cryptic app 

Summer Snow. is an upcoming game by Japanese indie doujin game and audio works studio Cynical Honey.

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“We absolutely don’t view our eroge titles as a shameful past.” Laplacian explains why it had to remove adult games from its official website, addressing fan concerns

Wasabi Ono, the CEO of Laplacian, has provided a lengthy explanation of the company's recent restructuring and reasons for removing adult games from its website.

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After Final Fantasy VII Revelation’s reveal, the trilogy has been "selling extremely well." Director Naoki Hamaguchi on player feedback, the blessing of a heated fandom, and physical games  - AUTOMATO...

Interview with Naoki Hamaguchi, director of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.

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Japanese developer Marvelous confirms end of Tencent partnership, Story of Seasons mobile game discontinued

Tencent officially pulls out from investing in Marvelous, following a revision of the company's capital allocation policy.

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Deadly Trick, a multiplayer game that lets you act out a Danganronpa-styled murder mystery with your friends, is out now on Steam in Early Access

Finalblow Co. released the Danganronpa-inspired social deduction game Deadly Trick in Steam Early Access on July 31st.

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Bungo Stray Dogs game of 9 years shuts down with grace period of just one day as publisher reportedly files for bankruptcy and refuses to issue refunds

Japanese publisher Ambition announced that it is not planning to issue refunds for Bungo Stray Dogs: Tales of the Lost's gacha currency.

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Magic x Bureaucracy RPG Astrae Oratio to begin accepting closed beta testers on August 19 

The game is scheduled to launch in 2026.

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Wizardry Variants Daphne launches Final Fantasy 11 event. Prishe, Iroha, and Zeid to appear alongside event that lets you recruit one adventurer of your choice   - AUTOMATON WEST

Wizardry Variants Daphne has launched a Final Fantasy 11 collaboration event, set to run until September 10.

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