The crowdfunding campaign to port an all-ages version of the beloved visual novel Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (also known as Rumbling Hearts) to Steam has just concluded successfully.
The campaign on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Ubgoe, which was launched on October 27 with a goal of 30 million yen ($211,000 at the current exchange rates), managed to gather 57,892,199 million yen pledged by 2,532 backers.
That's almost $409,000 at the current exchange rate, which is definitely flattering considering the niche genre. The goal was reached over a month ago, on November 23.
The campaign was initially designed to target Japanese fans of the series, but then the developers decided to open it up to Western fans as well, as you can read in our interview with Kouji Morimoto, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Redevelopment Project Team Leader.
If you're unfamiliar with Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (which the fans affectionately call "Kiminozo"), it debuted as an eroge by Japanese developer âge in 2001 for PC and was brought back afterward with re-releases and console ports specifically for Dreamcast and PS2.
As it often happens, the game's popularity was amplified in 2003 thanks to the airing of an anime series followed by the OVA series titled Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Next Season.
While the game was never officially localized, the anime series received an English release titled "Rumbling Hearts," and this is the title that many Western fans know.
The game is set in the same world (and school) as âge's own Muv-Luv series. Kiminozo's heroines return in Muv-Luv Alternative, in which they all play relevant roles.
Incidentally, all who pledged to the campaign will receive a Steam Code for both Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative, further underlining the link between the popular visual novel series and Kiminozo.
The Steam version that will result from this crowdfunding campaign will be based on the "Latest Edition" released in 2008.
While it'll initially be released only in Japanese, an update with an English localization is coming. The developers are aiming for summer 2024 as a release window for the translation.
Full disclosure: The Author of this post supported the crowdfunding campaign for Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien.
