In attendance at this weekend’s Anime Central convention, visual novel and video game publisher Sekai Project were in attendance with a number of new acquisitions for the coming months. Please read about all their new projects below, including something to mark their 10th anniversary as a company:
Animal Trail Girlish Square LOVE+PLUS
Animal Trail Girlish Square LOVE+PLUS is a fandisc spin off by Whirlpool featuring short stories for the characters of Animal Trail Girlish Square with the focus on Haneru and Tetora. According to Sekai Project, this visual novel is fully translated and editing, and are awaiting a build for QA testing, meaning this may not be too far away from release.
Idol otaku, Nakamori Taiga and the girls of idol group Animal Trail Girlish Square are back in this series of side stories featuring Haneru and Tetora!
Haneru Route
In search of another way to promote the group, Haneru turns to streaming old games and somehow it actually proved to be a success? Of course she’s doing It for the views (and the fans) but one thing leads to another during a “study” session on old games that Taiga lends to Haneru.
Tetora Route
The seed of understanding her role as an idol begins to sprout within Tetora. She gets both excited and nervous at the prospect of practicing “stage chatter” with Taiga. Taken by surprise with this request, Taiga does what he can to help her out. That resting Tetora face says otherwise though. What will our hero do to smoothly get her talking and smiling for everyone…?
Animal Trail ☆Girlish Square 2
And right off the back of the fandisc comes Animal Trail ☆Girlish Square 2, the next chapter in Whirlpool’s Animal Trail series due to launch on Steam in Q3 2023. This title has also been 100% translated and edited, and is awaiting a QA build.
Nakamori Taiga used to be just your average idol fanboy, cheering on the underground idol group, Animal Trail Girlish Square. However, he ended up stumbling upon his favorite idol group’s secret.
And that secret is…
They are not only idols but magical girls as well
They’re helping to stop the enchanted realm of Hemdesmel from collapsing
To do this, they must work together to find an energy source called “Pal” which is released by humans in times of immense joy
Having discovered their secret, there was no going back. Soon, he became the manager Animal Trail desperately needed (not that he was given much choice in the matter). Still, for an idol otaku like him, getting to manage his favorite group was like a dream come true. One by one, he began connecting with each of the girls, helping them to reach their full potential. Now directed by Taiga, their marketing efforts also began to bear fruit. Animal Trail Girlish Square was finally starting to gain momentum, establishing themselves as a powerhouse in the indie idol sphere.
Amidst this flurry of successes came an offer they couldn’t refuse: an invitation to the so-called Tokyo New Idol Festival. It promised to be a huge, nationally televised event backed by a big-shot production company, and it was happening right in their backyard! The goal? To decide who were the best indie idols out there, once and for all. Is this their big chance? Their golden ticket to stardom? Can they even make the cut? Animal Trail once again finds itself at a crossroads, with the girls’ collective dream on the line.
The stage is set: it’s time to kick things off with another roar!
Sekai Project 10th Anniversary Book: Our Connecting Sky
Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Sekai Project, Sekai Project is working on an art book that will feature the history of their company, cover artwork by zpolice and a collection of Sena artwork by multiple international illustrators. This will be a physical release, and available from July 2023.
Updates on Already Announced Projects
Alice Escaped by illuCalab
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Release Date: Q3 2023
Updated Status: In QA Testing
My Little Sister’s Special Place by Sekai Project and feng
Platform: Steam
Release Date: Q3 2023
Updated Status: In QA Testing
Amairo Chocolate 2 by Cabbage Soft
Platform: Steam
Release Date: TBD
Updated Status: In QA Testing, Approved for Release on Steam
Sekai Project: 10 Years of Stats
Basics
- Sekai Project was founded on May6, 2013 in Los Angeles, CA
- First product released was “Moe Headphones Design Guidebook 2013” which was release in 2014
- First game released was “WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.01” in 2014
- 144 Games, 46 soundtracks, 33 DLCs all released on Steam
- 14 games released on the PlayStation Store
- 10 games released on the Nintendo eShop
- Games available on multiple platforms with more games & platforms to be added
Crowdfunding Numbers & Information
- Successfully ran 21 Kickstarter campaigns and2 Indiegogo campaigns
- NEKOPARA Anime OVA crowdfunding campaign raised over $960,000 USD and was the most funded animation project in 2017
- While delays have happened, Sekai Project intends to finish fulfillment on all projects.
Project Funding
- Funded over 30 game titles
- Over $350,000 USD given to developers in the form of grants and royalty advances
- Always open to new publishing requests
Statistics, Data, & Numbers
- Over $61 Million USD in Lifetime Revenue
- $1.1 Million USD raised in 2017 Humble Sekai Project Bundle
- Over 13 Million games sold
- Top Sellers are NEKOPARA series, CLANNAD and M.A.S.S. Builder
Global Reach
- Games available in English, Chinese, Japanese language
- 42% of users in Asia, 31% in North America, 14% in Western Europe
- User data driving the direction of future licensing
More Platforms
- More games to be added to digital platforms such as Epic Game Store, GOG, Humble and Microsoft Store
- Aim towards simultaneous release on multiple platforms