Hong Kong 2097, the official sequel to the infamous homebrew SNES game Hong Kong 97, has been delayed to Q1 of 2026. Originally scheduled for a December 2025 release on Steam, the self-proclaimed “mind-numbing” twin stick shooter has run into trouble getting approval from the platform.
That’s according to KaniPro, who is co-developing Hong Kong 2097 alongside Happy Soft, creator of the original 1995 game. The new sequel failed its first Steam review on November 19, but KaniPro said on X that this was due to legitimate concerns that needed addressing. Specifically, they were required to provide Valve with a debug version of the game. At the time, the developer was optimistic, sensing that the initial rejection wasn’t an outright “no” from Valve. At the same time they did tell a commenter that “letting Valve see latter parts of the game could be a death sentence.”
A week later, KaniPro received an update from Steam notifying them that Hong Kong 2097’s review process would take more time. At this point, the developer seemed miffed at the situation, commenting, “There’s no nudity (at least not with anything visible), the game’s perfectly playable from start to finish, LET ME RELEASE HONG KONG 2097!!!”
Finally, on December 4, they decided to delay the game’s release as Steam had yet to reach a ruling for two weeks since the build was re-submitted for review. The new launch window is a tentative “Q1 of 2026.” Meanwhile, development work on the game has been completed.
Given that KaniPro and Happy Soft are attempting to release Hong Kong 2097 on a commercial platform, it’s safe to say it probably doesn’t get quite as heinous as its predecessor (which flashed players with a low-res image of a real dead body each time they got a game over). However, the sequel does seem to include mature themes and parodic depictions of real-life personalities, which could be why Valve is taking its time reviewing the content (provided technical issues aren’t to blame instead).
On an unrelated note, while the decision to make a sequel to Hong Kong 97 was a controversial one in itself, the developers have also received some criticism for relying on generative AI for asset creation (as indicated by the Steam store page). On the other hand, KaniPro and Happy Soft position the project as a form of rebellion against the recent wave of censorship of video games, which is why the move has also seen some praise in the community.
