While visual novel maker Key has been around since 1998, this year they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first actual year of activity, which began with the release of Kanon.
Since then, they have released various other games, such as Air, CLANNAD, planetarian, Little Busters!, and more, with their most recent game being Summer Pockets in 2018.
To celebrate their special 20th anniversary, Key has launched a special website with new art of all the main heroines of their games, with a message by Key writer Jun Maeda, which we have translated below:
“Even if you tell me it’s Key’s 20th anniversary, it doesn’t really come to mind considering we haven’t made any announcements this year.
However, for a game brand to last 20 years is something I think is pretty amazing.
In this age where we are slowly losing the culture of playing visual novels on PC, the industry has gotten harsher, and it’s become harder to survive.
During our 10th anniversary, we held a large-scale ‘Key 10th Memorial Fes’ event, but on this 20th anniversary, it’s a totally different ballpark.
Under these conditions, we cannot spend as much money as we did back then. Even making a site like this is the extent of what we can do.
In the midst of this, the latest game, Summer Pockets, released last year to raving reviews, and this has become a good turning point.
Thanks to this, we’ve been able to pump ourselves up to make Key do even better!
In order for our fans to continue being able to think, “I’m glad to be a Key fan!”, we on the staff will continue to work hard.”
As for celebrations, Key has announced a special CD box OST collection titled ‘Key Box –for two decades-‘, which is set to come out late September 2019 for 50,000 yen. The CD box has a whopping 50 discs included on 5 10-disc digipaks, an around 280-page booklet with the tracklist and all the lyrics, and a special box with the above illustration of all Key’s main heroines. You can check out the entire track list for all 50 discs here.
Key was established on July 21, 1998, and released their first game, Kanon, on June 4, 1999.
