Level-5 may be almost comically late in releasing its games, but it doesn’t forget its promises to players. Japanese fans who won a raffle for a day-one free copy of Inazuma Eleven Ares recently received a letter from the developer with instructions on how to redeem the game. The catch is, it’s been 7 years since the giveaway took place, and the game is now called Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, set to launch in two weeks’ time.
The much-awaited hyper-dimensional football RPG has been delayed a total of eight times by now, twice in 2018 and once each year since then, including one bonus little “release date adjustment” announced in June 2025. Japanese X user @GOTTbatotai54 won a complimentary copy of the game back in 2018, its original launch window, and probably wasn’t expecting for the offer to still stand after all these years.
But much to their surprise, now that Inazuma Eleven is (hopefully) launching for real, Level-5 sent them a letter. “We deeply apologize for the significant delay in sending out the prizes for the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road giveaway,” it reads, with instructions on redeeming the digital edition once it’s out on November 13.
They’re not the only one too, as another Japanese user reported receiving the same letter. “My daughter was in the fourth grade of elementary school when she won this raffle, and she’s in her second year of high school now, lol,” the parent wrote.
Level-5 has in recent years been on the receiving end of pretty harsh criticism from a big portion of the Japanese fandom, with the frequent delays undoubtedly being part of what’s broken consumers’ trust. However, this bit of news has been equal parts baffling and touching for fans, as one popular response puts it, “Level-5… they always come through when it counts, so you can’t bring yourself to turn your back on them. Inazuma Eleven was a bottleneck for them, but it’s finally coming out now. I hope they manage to regroup and rebuild themselves.”
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road launches November 13 for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PS5/PS4, PC (Steam), and Xbox Series X|S.
Related articles: Level-5 quickly revises Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road’s platform-exclusive bonuses in response to player feedback
