Kodansha's Live-Action Romance Game 'Hamukoi' Launches on Steam After Ban Scare
Kodansha's entry into the live-action romance game genre, leveraging its FRIDAY magazine's gravure idols, highlights both the growing popularity of FMV titles on Steam and the content moderation challenges such games face.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Kodansha released 'Hamukoi - Hamster ni Tensei Shita Boku to Sanshimai no Amaama na Hibi' on July 17 for PC via Steam and Epic Game Store. The live-action romance sim places the player as a hamster pampered by three sisters, played by gravure idols. The game faced multiple Steam bans before release, which developers discussed in an interview with Automaton.
The idea for 'Hamukoi' came from a FRIDAY magazine editor who wanted to make a game that uses gravure footage. After hearing that live-action video games were popular in China, Kodansha's Game Lab combined the two concepts. The result is a 'cared-for adventure game' where the player is a hamster and the heroines are three sisters played by Sayaka Tomaru, Momona Takatsuru, and Shiori Ikemoto. The project faced repeated attempts by Steam to ban the title, but it ultimately launched on both Steam and Epic Game Store. In an interview with Automaton, producers Oda, Katayama, and director Sakurai explained the development process and the ban crisis.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.