JAPAN GAMING & ENTERTAINMENT 
On September 2, 2026, the crowdfunding total for Shibuya Scramble Stories passed ¥100 million — about $626,000 (at ¥159.60 to the US dollar, September 2, 2026). The game is an ensemble drama set in Shibuya, made in live action, and it is aiming for a 2028 release. It is being developed and published by Skeleton Crew Studio, under the general direction of Jiro Ishii. Ishii has set a story in Shibuya before, and English-speaking players have been able to play that one since 2018.
He already told a Shibuya story in 2008
428 Shibuya Scramble was released for Wii on December 4, 2008. It is known as a live-action sound novel: instead of drawn characters, its scenes unfold through photographs shot in Shibuya. It has since appeared on other platforms as well, and in September 2018 Spike Chunsoft released it in English on PlayStation 4 and Steam. The English-language Steam version is still available for purchase. So the earlier work here is not something to be read about second-hand. It is sitting in a store most readers already use.
About seventeen and a half years separate the Wii release from the announcement that the project had passed ¥100 million. The two games are set in the same district of Tokyo, both are built from live-action material shot there, and even their English titles overlap: the older title contains Shibuya Scramble, and the new one is Shibuya Scramble Stories.
Five leads, filmed in the same district
Shibuya Scramble Stories is a visual novel with five playable characters, and the story moves between them. The five are not a supporting cast arranged around one hero: each one is playable, and the demo showed the player moving between them. That demo, shown at the start of September, used live-action photography and included live-action video, and it showed the player switching from one protagonist to another and selecting options at decision points. The project positions the player as either an accomplice or a witness.
The five leads are played by Kousei Amano, Fumio Kitagami, Yosuke Kubozuka, Yuto Nakamura and Masaru Matsuda. Ayumi Iino is the photography director, Hideki Sakamoto is writing the music, Aya Kamiki performs the theme song, Taro Minoboshi is art director, and Masahiko Murakami is producing. A monster character called Siblla also appears on the official site.
A demo one day, a number the next
The two pieces of news arrived a day apart. On September 1, 2026, at an event held at a Shibuya venue called 404 Not Found and streamed on YouTube, the gameplay demo was shown for the first time and two more cast members were announced. The crowdfunding total passed ¥100 million the following day, and the project announced it on September 2.
Where the ¥100 million came from
The figure does not come from a single campaign. Shibuya Scramble Stories has raised money in separate rounds, on more than one Japanese crowdfunding platform, and ¥100 million is the running total across all of them. The first round ran on one site. Two later rounds have run on CAMPFIRE, which lists them as development-participation crowdfunding. The first opened in July 2026, while the second opened on the evening of September 1, 2026, Japan time. Pledges made during the current round will be finalized with backers between October 1 and October 31.
What crossing ¥100 million changed
Passing ¥100 million unlocked a stretch goal. One more major character will be added to the main story, which makes that character part of the plan rather than a possibility. The project has made one point clear: the new character will not be playable. Who it is, and how the addition will affect the story, is to be announced later.
The second round runs to September 30
The CAMPFIRE round that opened on September 1 runs until 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2026, Japan time. For readers in North America that is 10:59 a.m. Eastern and 7:59 a.m. Pacific on the same day; in Central Europe it is 4:59 p.m. Both CAMPFIRE rounds contribute to the same cumulative total, so the figure announced on September 2 will keep moving until the round closes.
What is still open
Three things about the game are not settled. The 2028 release is a target the team has stated rather than a dated launch. Apart from the Steam logo on the official site, no platform lineup has been announced. And the character unlocked at ¥100 million has not been described at all.
For anyone meeting the project now, the older game is the way in. 428 Shibuya Scramble has been playable in English since 2018, and it is on Steam. What backers have put ¥100 million behind is the same creator returning to the same district, in live action, with five playable leads and a 2028 target. Whether the game lands in that year is a question for later. What is settled is that backers have funded its progress to this point, one round at a time.
Sources: 4Gamer; Denfaminicogamer; Famitsu; the official Shibuya Scramble Stories site; the CAMPFIRE project page. Compiled from Japanese-language sources.