Steins;Gate is popular in Japan. Very popular. How popular? 300,000 copies of the game shipped across PC, Xbox 360 and PSP to date, according to 5pb president, Chiyomaru Shikura.
Pointing out that this is an admirable number for a visual novel, Shikura happily celebrated the milestone with a (★ ° ∀ °) ノ face on Twitter. Congratulations, Shikura-san. With a game, an anime series, and love comedy spin-off, Steins;Gate is a proper media franchise.
So, why is it so popular? Shikura believes it’s because Steins;Gate is rooted in reality. “If you can create a story, complete with terror and joy, within the confines of reality, you can make it feel more relatable,” Shikura told us during an interview we conducted with 5pb earlier this year.
That approach seems to have worked for 5pb so far, with Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, which have both been successful. Next in line in is Dunamis 15, another game that incorporates the concept of time into its story. Meanwhile, Shikura is enjoying hearty congratulations from peers such as Huke of Black Rock Shooter fame and Overdrive president, Hiroshi Takeuchi.
