{"id":63391,"date":"2026-03-19T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=63391"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:04:27","slug":"popular-japanese-streamer-who-quit-his-day-job-to-commit-to-game-development-reveals-his-rhythm-heaven-like-solo-produced-debut-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/popular-japanese-streamer-who-quit-his-day-job-to-commit-to-game-development-reveals-his-rhythm-heaven-like-solo-produced-debut-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Japanese streamer who quit his day job to commit to game development reveals his Rhythm Heaven-like solo-produced debut title"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After leaving his job as a programmer for an undisclosed game company in 2024, Japanese streamer P-P has been dividing his time between broadcasting and creating his own games. Two years later, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/atRkn2bCo58?si=8DftT-6mli16hlPD\">he announced<\/a> that his first full release, <strong>Step Theater<\/strong>, will be a story-based rhythm game similar to Nintendo\u2019s Rhythm Heaven series.<\/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=\"\u300eSTEP THEATER\u300f\uff5c2026\u5e74\u590f\u767a\u58f2\u4e88\u5b9a\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L5Q5Fzbqcb8?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>With its cartoon-esque aesthetic and catchy beats, Step Theater is a rhythm game in which the world and story evolve the better you synchronize your moves with the beat. As you progress through each stage, the visuals change, unveiling the next part of the story, and the gameplay becomes gradually more challenging while the music accompanying it also becomes more intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step Theater\u2019s stages range from a tortoise and a hare pounding handmade mochi to a cat operating a ramen street stall and a creepy vampire ballroom party. In addition, while some stages feature classic rhythm game-style backgrounds and gameplay, others draw inspiration from other game genres, with one stage in particular resembling a platformer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260318-633910001.jpg\" alt=\"Step Theater gameplay.\" class=\"wp-image-63396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260318-633910001.jpg 960w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260318-633910001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260318-633910001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Step Theater is P-P\u2019s first full release, it isn\u2019t his first game. Back in 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/p_p_p_p_p\/status\/1852341654059188269?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">he created Kiyo Neko Adventure<\/a> for his friend and fellow streamer Kiyo\u2019s one-man show at the Tokyo Dome. While that title is more along the lines of a die-and-retry joke platformer similar to games like Cat Mario, Step Theater is a full-fledged rhythm game made for genre fans and newcomers alike. Given P-P\u2019s history of game development and penchant for finding strange ways to play conventional games (he streamed himself playing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nicovideo.jp\/watch\/sm14276253\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Super Mario World with a dancepad<\/a>), making an evolving rhythm game is right up his alley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solo developed by P-P under the Pixel Smile studio and published by NB Games, Step Theater is set to release sometime in mid-2026 for Windows (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4264410\/STEP_THEATER\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-youtuber-revives-320k-crowdfunded-dream-game-after-complete-development-limbo-but-says-completing-it-will-require-10x-the-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japanese YouTuber revives $320K crowdfunded dream game after complete development limbo, but says completing it will require \u201c10x the budget\u201d&nbsp;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-streamer-who-spent-160k-usd-to-make-his-dream-game-breaks-even-in-just-a-month-plans-to-invest-everything-into-next-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japanese streamer who spent $160k USD to make his dream game breaks&nbsp;even&nbsp;in just a month,&nbsp;plans to invest everything into next&nbsp;game<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese streamer and solo developer P-P recently announced his debut title Step Theater, releasing in mid-2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":63395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,3],"tags":[39,17],"class_list":["post-63391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie-games","category-news","tag-indie-games","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>Popular Japanese streamer who quit his day job to commit to game development reveals his Rhythm Heaven-like solo-produced debut title - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Japanese streamer and solo developer P-P recently announced his debut title Step Theater, releasing in mid-2026.\" \/>\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\/popular-japanese-streamer-who-quit-his-day-job-to-commit-to-game-development-reveals-his-rhythm-heaven-like-solo-produced-debut-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Popular Japanese streamer who quit his day job to commit to game development reveals his Rhythm Heaven-like solo-produced debut title - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Japanese streamer and solo developer P-P recently announced his debut title Step Theater, releasing in mid-2026.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/popular-japanese-streamer-who-quit-his-day-job-to-commit-to-game-development-reveals-his-rhythm-heaven-like-solo-produced-debut-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T08:04:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260318-63391-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Popular Japanese streamer who quit his day job to commit to game development reveals his Rhythm Heaven-like solo-produced debut title - 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