{"id":56401,"date":"2026-02-03T17:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56401"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:53:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:53:39","slug":"sequel-to-japans-worst-game-ever-made-released-on-itch-io-following-rejection-from-steam-gog-and-dlsite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sequel-to-japans-worst-game-ever-made-released-on-itch-io-following-rejection-from-steam-gog-and-dlsite\/","title":{"rendered":"Sequel to Japan&#8217;s &#8220;worst game ever made&#8221; released on itch.io following rejection from Steam, GOG, and DLsite"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Hong Kong 2097<\/strong>, the official sequel to the infamous bootleg SNES title Hong Kong 97, has found a home on <a href=\"https:\/\/kanipro.itch.io\/hong-kong-2097\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">itch.io<\/a> and is now available for Windows. This follows a <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sequel-to-worst-game-ever-made-delayed-as-steam-approval-process-draws-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drawn-out approval process<\/a> by Valve last year, which culminated in its <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sequel-to-offensive-snes-game-hong-kong-97-not-coming-to-steam-developers-considering-alternatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cancellation on Steam<\/a> (funnily enough, you can still access the Steam page if you have <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4069020\/Hong_Kong_2097\/?l=japanese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the link<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hong Kong 2097 Release Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BtnvqLwzWLY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After Hong Kong 2097\u2019s Steam rejection, the developers at KaniPro Games started looking to itch.io, GOG, and DLsite as prospective homes. The game was flat-out <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaniProGames\/status\/2018360342741704984?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ignored by GOG and rejected by DLsite<\/a> (the latter of which was because it <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaniProGames\/status\/2009248802582954332?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contained digitized graphics<\/a>) before finding its sanctuary at itch.io.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Co-developed with Happy Soft, the studio behind the original Hong Kong 97, Hong Kong 2097 is a bullet hell-style shooter starring returning protagonist Chin, the long-lost descendant of Bruce Lee. After clearing Hong Kong of 1.2 billion Chinese people in the first title, Chin receives a message from God to set forth and conquer the fictional country of Amurikkka to establish his own utopia. And, of course, the only way to do it is by murdering all of its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260203-564010001.jpg\" alt=\"Hong Kong 2097 gameplay. \" class=\"wp-image-56409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260203-564010001.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260203-564010001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260203-564010001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Featuring everything from digitized image backgrounds that feature offensive memes to pixelized Mount Rushmore enemies with poop on their heads and bosses that look like very prominent figures in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaniProGames\/status\/2018537027768328360?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rather suggestive homoerotic poses<\/a> , Hong Kong 2097 was made with the intent of catching players off-guard (the release trailer seems to have replaced the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CbBSYqACSdU?si=dATcG-bAG76-61dO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previous trailer\u2019s real-time meme reactions of WWE founder Vince McMahon<\/a> with images of Chin instead). Considering Hong Kong 2097\u2019s sensitive material, KaniPro Games <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaniProGames\/status\/2018360566247829550?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suggests picking up the game before it gets delisted<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong Kong 2097 is available for Windows (<a href=\"https:\/\/kanipro.itch.io\/hong-kong-2097\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">itch.io<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-worst-game-ever-made-gets-official-sequel-after-30-years-a-disrespectful-breath-of-fresh-air-amidst-intensifying-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Japan\u2019s \u201cworst game ever made\u201d gets official sequel after 30 years. A \u201cdisrespectful breath of fresh air\u201d amidst intensifying censorship<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The official sequel to the infamous bootleg SNES game Hong Kong 97 has finally launched on itch.io after rejections from other platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":56406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-56401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sequel to Japan&#039;s &quot;worst game ever made&quot; released on itch.io following rejection from Steam, GOG, and DLsite - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The official sequel to the infamous bootleg SNES game Hong Kong 97 has finally launched on itch.io after rejections from other platforms.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sequel-to-japans-worst-game-ever-made-released-on-itch-io-following-rejection-from-steam-gog-and-dlsite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sequel to Japan&#039;s &quot;worst game ever made&quot; released on itch.io following rejection from Steam, GOG, and DLsite - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The official sequel to the infamous bootleg SNES game Hong Kong 97 has finally launched on itch.io after rejections from other platforms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sequel-to-japans-worst-game-ever-made-released-on-itch-io-following-rejection-from-steam-gog-and-dlsite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T08:53:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T08:53:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260203-56401-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"896\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; 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