Japanese video game publisher ILLUMINATION recently announced thatSuper Real Mahjong Venus Returns, the brand-new entry in the long running Super Real Mahjong series, will be postponed from Spring to Summer 2026 due to the game’s crowdfunding campaign being “too successful.” With over 1,690% of the original goal reached, the devs say this has motivated them to implement full voiceovers, a grand finale, and numerous other features that weren’t originally planned for the game (source: Game*Spark).
Super Real Mahjong is considered a classic, if not the definitive “strip mahjong” game franchise in Japan. Once an arcade staple that was eventually ported to other platforms such as PC and consoles, the series was announced to return as a 3D VR-supported title in 2026, with a crowdfunding campaign being unveiled in September 2025. However, contrary to the publisher’s expectations, the game ended up swiftly shooting past the original target amount of 2 million yen, collecting over 33.8 million yen (about $216k USD) in just two months thanks to over 1,100 backers. The huge boost allowed the developers to budget features they didn’t originally plan for the title, thus postponing the release for Summer next year. As they explained, “this is a rare chance, and we wanted to perfect the game without any compromise.”
Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns will see the main characters from the beloved Super Real Mahjong PV – Mizuki Tohno, Aya Fujiwara and Akira Hayasaka come back after almost 30 years with revamped designs. The PV heroines will also be joined by Showko from Super Real Mahjong PII. The game promises to keep the series’ traditional two-way strip mahjong format, except this time, you’ll able to experience the stripping action point-blank in VR. A non-VR mode is also available for those who want to experience the game from a “safe distance.” While the game will involve stripping, it will not include any explicitly sexual content, according to the Steam store page,
Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns is set to release for PC (Steam) in Summer 2026.
