Following the launch of Shibuya Scramble Stories’ second crowdfunding campaign on July 1, the game’s official X account announced that the project surpassed its initial target goal of 10 million JPY (roughly $62 thousand USD) after only 62 minutes. The campaign has amassed 20.56 million JPY (over $120 thousand USD) at the time of writing and will continue accepting support for its first phase until July 31. A second phase is scheduled to take place from September 1 to September 30, once all funds from the first phase have been secured by the developers.
The second crowdfunding campaign was born out of overwhelming demand for the sold-out reward tiers of the first campaign. Director Jiro Ishii said that while the original plan was to launch the campaign as early as April 28, missing funds issues with Ubgoe (which hosted the first campaign) led the developers to postpone the second campaign’s launch while they searched for a new crowdfunding platform.
Now that the second campaign has found a home on Campfire, Skeleton Crew Studio and Jiro Ishii are focused on improving the live-action visual novel’s sound production and getting their ideal casting roles (the five main cast members have already been finalized, however). As mentioned, the team is implementing a two-phase crowdfunding campaign this time to prevent funds from being misplaced. Only when all of the funds from the first phase have been secured will the team move on to the second phase. Should any major issues arise during the collection of the funds from the first phase by the end of August, the team will implement “risk management measures” to cancel or postpone the second phase.
When it comes to rewards, many of the tiers featured in the first campaign make a return, such as the ability to appear as an extra in the game and having your own writing be featured in the game’s “Tips” section. Those who supported the first campaign don’t need to worry about their rewards being changed if they support the second one, as the rewards for both campaigns are separate.
The spiritual successor to Spike Chunsoft’s 428: Shibuya Scramble, Shibuya Scramble Stories is an ensemble-style visual novel that features several returning cast members and developers, such as actors Fumio Kitagami and Kousei Amano and director and lead writer Jiro Ishii.
Shibuya Scramble Stories is currently in development. You can find more about the game on its official webpage.
