Skeleton Crew Studio, the team behind the upcoming live-action visual novel Shibuya Scramble Stories, revealed on Friday that its second crowdfunding campaign on Campfire has wrapped up, securing a total of 43.6 million yen, which converts to approximately $275,000 USD. This impressive sum is over four times the initial target of 10 million yen (around $63,000 USD) set for the Campfire initiative to enhance the game’s production values.
The development of Shibuya Scramble Stories has faced numerous challenges in recent months. The project’s first crowdfunding attempt on Ubgoe struggled to distribute more than half of the funds collected back in March. As the team explored legal avenues, they also dealt with internal issues, such as lead actor Masakazu Arai stepping down in June and director Jiro Ishii’s unexpected hospitalization recently.
Despite these hurdles, Skeleton Crew remains positive about the project’s trajectory. Ishii confirmed that his hospital stay would be brief and expressed his eagerness to return to work within weeks. The second crowdfunding phase saw an immediate wave of fan support, hitting its 10-million-yen target in just one hour. The game’s official X account shared a post noting how close the project was to accumulating 100 million yen across both Ubgoe and Campfire campaigns. Although the Campfire drive fell short of this milestone, a planned September donation round is expected to push the total over the edge.
Ubgoe addressed concerns last month regarding their inaccessible website, explaining server and physical location changes. However, there are still no updates on the roughly 28 million yen owed to Skeleton Crew or other clients who also haven’t received their funds. The platform remains offline as of now.
Shibuya Scramble Stories is being developed as a spiritual successor to Chunsoft’s Machi and 428: Shibuya Scramble, both of which were helmed by Ishii. The game is currently slated for release in 2028.
Related articles:
Japanese bishojo visual novel Purgatory:Blue launches new crowdfunding project to recoup part of withheld funds from last fundraiser