News Round-Up for the Week of October 26

Indie Community News Spotlight – Winter VN Jam 2020

Katy133 has announced the Winter VN Jam 2020, a visual novel game jam with the theme of “winter.” Submissions will run from December 1st, 2020 through January 1st, 2021. Interested developers can check out the jam page now.

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Key Announces Four New Projects

It was an exciting week for fans of Key, the developer behind visual novels such as Clannad and Summer Pockets, as they announced four new projects, with the news translated here. One is a multimedia project called Prima Doll. The others are three new kinetic novels: Project: LOOPER written by Ryukishi07, Project: LUNAR written by Takeshi Matsuyama, and Project: PORTER written by Romeo Tanaka. Project: LUNAR and Project: PORTER are both set to be released in 2021.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Localization

Due to it receiving the most interest during a fan survey, Muv-Luv publisher aNCHOR announced that their next localization project will be Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. More details will be coming soon.

Anonymous;Code Launches Fall 2021

The upcoming visual novel Anonymous;Code from Mages will be released in fall 2021 in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Originally a PS Vita version was announced, but that has been cancelled.

Steins;Gate 0 Elite Update

During the Mages presentation, they included the debut trailer for Steins;Gate 0 Elite, the upcoming “Elite” version of Steins;Gate 0 that will use animated scenes. It will feature scenes that were not in the anime.

New Science Adventure Teased

A new Science Adventure visual novel was also announced. Teased with only the first part of its name being “Steins;” we do not yet know its full title. Characters from Steins;Gate will appear in it, but it features a new cast. Its relationship to Steins;Gate has been compared to that between Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child.

The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done Delay

The shogi-themed visual novel The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done has been delayed in Japan from November 26th to December 17th.

Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle Chapter III Release Date

The third chapter of Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle has a new trailer and a release date. It will be out on November 6th and cost $3.99, with pre-orders being discounted to $2.99. In addition to a new murder mystery case that parodies Initial D, it will also feature a turn-based racing mini-game.

Steam Prison Switch Release

The otome Steam Prison, which first came out in 2016, is now coming to the Switch in Japan on February 25th, 2021. Additional content has been added to the Switch version, including new character songs and CGs. It will include Japanese, English, and Chinese subtitle options.

Spooktober Visual Novel Jam Winners

The winners of 2020’s Spooktober Visual Novel Jam have also been announced at the official Discord server.

Best Logline went to Play Dead! in third place with “A short story about a band, their junky, broken down van, an abandoned house, and a surprisingly lively dead dog,” Devil’s Door in second place with “Think collecting candy in your neighborhood is tough? Try a night of trick-or-treating down Satan’s lane!” and Up All Night in first place with “Unearth secrets. Solve a murder. Confront the darkness. Whatever transpires, you’re guaranteed to be up all night.”

Best Thumbnail went to Oh, Terry! in third place, Bewitched Hearts in second place, and Therapy with Dr. Albert Krueger in first place.

Best Monster or Costume went to Last Meal at Cafe Mori in third place, Were|House in second place, and What Grows in the Night in first place.

Best Unity Submission went to Soft Drizzle: B-Track.

Best Human Performance went to Nick Chang as Edward from Piece by Piece, while Best Monster Performance went to MAHO Cody as Jack from Last Meal at Cafe Mori. Best Live Streamed Performance went to TundraFlame, who streamed Oh, Terry!

For the overall winners, Night of the Lesbian Vampires came in third place, Last Meal at Cafe Mori came in second place, and Therapy with Dr. Albert Krueger came in first place. We will be covering the winners here at VN Game Den.

New Visual Novel Kickstarters

A few new visual novel Kickstarters launched this week.

7th Riddle Escape Mystery Game

A new puzzle-solving visual novel adventure game called 7th Riddle Escape Mystery Game has been announced and is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter.

Where The Stars Brought Us

Where The Stars Brought Us from EbonSoft is described as a coming of age story about a boy who meets a mysterious girl in Japan. A demo is currently available.

Super/Human Identity

Rock A Role Games’ superhero-themed visual novel RPG Super/Human Identity promises a choice-driven story and 6 romanceable characters with a setting to determine the level of sexual content. A demo is currently available.

Memento Mori: School Days

The Kickstarter campaign for psychological horror game Memento Mori: School Days, described as a story in which “everyone can’t be happy even with the best ending,” has been relaunched.