Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns gets new crowdfunding campaign to bring the series back to Japan’s arcades after 28 years, despite tight local regulations

Japanese developer Illumination recently announced that its hit strip mahjong game Stripjong – Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns would officially come to arcade cabinets across Japan. Titled Super Real Mahjong AC (Arcade Comeback), the new game marks the series’ return to Japan’s arcades after almost three decades.

Illumination has also announced a crowdfunding campaign for the project launching on November 12. According to the developers, instead of being used for development, collected funds will be used to “deliver” the game to as many locations in Japan as possible. As a reason for this, they cite stricter compliance regulations in Japan, which make installing strip mahjong arcade cabinets much more difficult now compared to how it was back in the 80s and 90s.

Stripjong – Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns is a new mainline entry in the classic strip mahjong series, returning almost three decades after its last “strip-centered” game. According to the producer, the game brings back all of the main features of the franchise while also aiming to “cross the line” in a way that wasn’t possible for arcade games back then.

Following the project’s huge success in Japan, with its crowdfunding campaign reaching 1,690% of the original goal, and the game charting on Steam’s domestic Top Seller rankings, arcade cabinet manufacturer exA-Arcadia reached out to Illumination hoping to give the game a proper arcade release.

Working together with exA-Arcadia and adult arcade brand Hawt Pink Club, the developers were able to secure an arcade release that is also in compliance with current standards and the Japanese law.

Interestingly, the game will also be getting a mahjong arcade controller, just like in the good old days. Since hardly any modern manufacturers produce mahjong arcade controllers nowadays, exA-Arcadia will be making a set of completely new ones specifically for Super Real Mahjong AC cabinets.

While Real Mahjong AC is scheduled to come out in Winter 2026, no arcade parlors have yet confirmed that they would be installing the cabinets. Unlike Steam, where anyone can play the game immediately after release, arcade games have to be approved by individual owners of arcade parlors, provided that the stores are allowed to handle adult games at all. So, the new crowdfunding campaign will serve to secure game center locations for the cabinets, as well as fund the devs’ “Japan tour,” event aiming to literally bring the cabinets to major locations across the country in the form of special events.

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Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns is a faithful reproduction of the original series that “crosses the line” in a way young Japanese men from the 80s could only dream of. We talk to the producer