{"id":73334,"date":"2026-10-05T12:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T03:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=73334"},"modified":"2026-10-05T13:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:00:54","slug":"shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadow Hearts series creator gives update on spiritual successor Penny Blood. The studio still hasn\u2019t secured a publisher, but has not given up on the project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shadow Hearts series creator Matsuzo Machida recently <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MachidaMatsuzo\/status\/2105966952909033689?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gave an update<\/a> on <strong>Penny Blood<\/strong>, the gothic horror JRPG his studio crowdfunded back in 2022 as a spiritual successor. This comes following <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/wild-arms-spiritual-successor-armed-fantasia-discontinued-by-publisher-despite-successful-2022-crowdfunding-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last week\u2019s news<\/a> of Armed Fantasia \u2013 a game that was crowdfunded as part of the same \u201cDouble Kickstarter\u201d campaign by another studio \u2013 being cancelled by its publisher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to Penny Blood, which is being co-developed by Machida\u2019s Studio Wildrose and Shade, the game has yet to secure a publisher, with Machida citing harsh conditions in the game industry. However, his team is still firmly intent on completing Penny Blood and nurturing the new IP. As one step towards realizing the game\u2019s production and raising the IP\u2019s recognition, the studio is currently working on a new novel adaptation titled Penny Blood REVIOLENCE (unofficial translation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is all Machida was able to share at this time. He apologized and explained that his team is unable to provide any further answers regarding the crowdfunding campaign as a whole as there is no new information to share in an official capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1284\" height=\"722\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1284px) 100vw, 1284px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261005-73334-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-73340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261005-73334-001.jpg 1284w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261005-73334-001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261005-73334-001-766x431.jpg 766w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the crowdfunding campaign for Penny Blood was extremely successful, achieving its target and multiple stretch goals in mere days, the project ran into a standstill following issues between Studio Wildrose and the campaign\u2019s producers \u2013 Ben Judd and Dangen Entertainment. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/director-of-penny-blood-shadow-heartss-spiritual-successor-files-lawsuit-over-unpaid-funding-from-kickstarter-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit filed in May 2024<\/a>, Machida alleged that the publisher withheld development funds raised through the Kickstarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It appears that since then, the developers have been searching for a new publisher while paying for the project out of their own pockets, but with little luck so far. Still, for backers and fans of Shadow Hearts, it\u2019s reassuring to know that Studio Wildrose has not given up on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, a roguelike spin-off game that serves as a prequel game to Penny Blood &#8211; Penny Blood: Hellbound &#8211; is available on PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2507400\/Penny_Blood_Hellbound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The project ran into issues after the Kickstarter campaign&#8217;s organizers allegedly withheld funds from the developers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":73336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-73334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shadow Hearts series creator gives update on spiritual successor Penny Blood. The studio still hasn\u2019t secured a publisher, but has not given up on the project - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\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\/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shadow Hearts series creator gives update on spiritual successor Penny Blood. The studio still hasn\u2019t secured a publisher, but has not given up on the project - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The project ran into issues after the Kickstarter campaign&#039;s organizers allegedly withheld funds from the developers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-05T03:52:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-05T04:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261005-73334-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1282\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\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=\"Amber V\" \/>\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":"Shadow Hearts series creator gives update on spiritual successor Penny Blood. The studio still hasn\u2019t secured a publisher, but has not given up on the project - AUTOMATON WEST","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shadow Hearts series creator gives update on spiritual successor Penny Blood. 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Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73334"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73341,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73334\/revisions\/73341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}