C#4R4CT3R has delayed “lo-fi psycho-thriller romance adventure” from its previously planned 2025 release window to 2026. It will be available for unspecified consoles and PC via Steam.
In a message director Shoon T shared further insight behind the delay, the vision for the game going forward, and the path toward completing development.
Here is the message in full:
■ Director’s Message
Hello, everyone. This is Shoon T, director of Rain98.
We have decided to shift our release target for Rain98 to 2026 to deliver the game at the level of quality we believe it deserves. I sincerely apologize to all the players who have been looking forward to it, and I would like to explain how we arrived at this decision.
Why We Need More Time
After starting development at full scale in April 2025, we have showcased Rain98 to hundreds of players at events around the world, including BitSummit, PAX East, and Tokyo Game Show.
The amount of insightful player feedback we received from these events has helped sharpen and define the image of the game in our minds, which is much more than we had first anticipated.
With every event, we became more and more convinced that we could go deeper with this game.
Rain98 is not meant to be a game that ends the second you see the end credits. We want the experience of playing it to linger with you for a long time, and to be as impactful as the iconic scenes from anime and movies that reside in the popular imagination for generations. We realized that in order to achieve that, we would need to pour even more effort into it. We would need to put every last bit of our soul into this game.
Apart from the “part-time job” minigame already showcased in the demo version in events, the full release will include a wider array of experiences to evoke daily life in Tokyo in the late ’90s.
These interactive elements are designed to be more than simple gimmicks. They connect naturally to character psychology, the game’s narrative tone, and the thick, dark, rainy atmosphere of the story.
Preparing all of this with the care it takes requires additional development time.
Future Updates
Rain98 has now surpassed 45,000 wishlists on Steam, and we’ve received messages of support and excitement from all over the world. The fact that so many people are supporting us despite the very limited amount of information we’ve released is more than we could ever ask for, and this really helps us stay motivated every single day.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you.
Although Rain98 has been postponed, we will be more open with our communication and will regularly share updates on development progress, plans for events, new demo versions, and more on our Steam Community and Discord.
■ In Closing
Rain98 will be worth the wait.
We still have much to learn when it comes to development, so we ask that you be patient and keep encouraging us through this journey. Our whole team is working tirelessly to share Rain98‘s story with you as soon as possible.
—Shoon T, Director