Anemoi, the latest visual novel from Clannad and AIR developer Key, released in Japan in April 2026, with a global Steam release also planned down the line. With Summer Pockets having launched back in 2018, Anemoi is Key’s first new full-priced visual novel in about 8 years. In a recent interview with Gamer, the title’s director Shun Sayuki and scenario lead Kai talked about what the studio had been up to in the meantime, and how they view the potential of long-form visual novels going forward.
According to Kai, Key was already discussing its next full-priced title not long after Summer Pockets’ REFLECTION BLUE expansion released in 2020. However, the studio grew busy with other parallel projects, like the live-service title Heaven Burns Red, and several short-form “kinetic” novels like Loopers (a collaboration with Ryukishi07) and Stella of the End.
While Key was laying the groundwork for its next full-price game throughout this period, Kai says the kinetic novel project was partly born from the fact that PC visual novels were beginning to gradually disappear from the market, due to their poor cost-effectiveness among other factors. Additionally, he comments, “Today’s entertainment landscape also moves incredibly quickly, with anime trends shifting every season. If you tell someone a game takes 40 hours to finish, many will hesitate.”
Due to these factors, until midway through the title’s development, Kai thought Anemoi could potentially become Key’s last full-priced game. However, he says his perspective changed while he was working on the Summer Pockets anime adaptation, which aired in April 2025.
“Many of the people who became fans through our older full-priced titles like Kanon, AIR, and CLANNAD are now working within the industry,” he says. “Those games have continued to leave a strong impression on them. If only full-priced games can create that kind of lasting impact, then I think we should continue making them so we can keep leaving something that resonates with people in that way. That’s why I don’t think Anemoi will be our last, there’s bound to be another full-priced game.”
Sayuki adds that “We’ve even had composers join the company because they played Summer Pockets. That’s how our history continues, and I think it’s a sign that we should keep making these games.”
It’s worth noting that Anemoi is a roughly 60-hour game. Rather than sizing down the content, Key decided to adapt to the times by making sure the game can be played in manageable stretches, with plenty of points that make it easy to stop for the day and continue later.
Anemoi is out in Japan for PC. A global released via Steam is planned for a later date.
