After the initiation of Shibuya Scramble Stories’ latest crowdfunding drive on July 1, the game’s official X account announced that the project exceeded its initial target of 10 million JPY (approximately $62 thousand USD) within just 62 minutes. The campaign has accumulated 20.56 million JPY (over $120 thousand USD) as of now and will continue accepting contributions for its first phase up until July 31. A second phase is set to run from September 1 to September 30, once all funds from the first phase have been secured by the development team.
The latest crowdfunding drive was launched due to overwhelming demand for the sold-out reward tiers of the initial campaign. Director Jiro Ishii stated that while the original plan was to launch the drive as early as April 28, missing funds problems with Ubgoe (which hosted the first drive) caused the developers to delay the second drive’s launch while they sought a new crowdfunding platform.
With the second drive now active on Campfire, Skeleton Crew Studio and Jiro Ishii are concentrating on enhancing the live-action visual novel’s audio production and securing their ideal casting choices (the five main cast members have already been confirmed, however). As mentioned, the team is utilizing a two-phase crowdfunding drive this time to prevent funds from being misallocated. Only after all of the funds from the first phase have been secured will the team proceed to the second phase. Should any major complications arise during the collection of the funds from the first phase by the end of August, the team will enact “risk management measures” to cancel or postpone the second phase.
Regarding rewards, many of the tiers featured in the initial drive return, such as the opportunity to appear as an extra in the game and having your own writing included in the game’s “Tips” section. Those who backed the initial drive don’t need to worry about their rewards being altered if they support the second one, as the rewards for both drives are separate.
The spiritual successor to Spike Chunsoft’s 428: Shibuya Scramble, Shibuya Scramble Stories is an ensemble-style visual novel that showcases several returning cast members and developers, including actors Fumio Kitagami and Kousei Amano and director and lead writer Jiro Ishii.
Shibuya Scramble Stories is currently in development. You can find more about the game on its official webpage.