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Happy 10th anniversary to Steins;Gate! A glimpse at celebrations in Japan and the West.

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Today marks a big milestone for one of the greatest titans in Japanese fiction, a game that has truly touched the hearts of not only Japanese players, but also fans from all over the world. This game would later go on to spawn a stellar anime adaptation, a captivating midquel, and innumerable additional side stories. Happy tenth, Steins;Gate!

"Congratulations!"

And given how prominent Steins;Gate has become in anime and visual novel circles, it’s only natural that fans and producers from the world over are currently rejoicing in celebration.

In addition to a surplus of congratulatory Tweets from those involved with Steins;Gate over the years, the official tenth anniversary website has been updated with longer-form comments on the milestone from staff, voice actors, and other prominent figures.

The beautiful rendition of the four main Lab Members shown above was illustrated by the ever-talented huke (Ryohei Fuke), well-known for his art in the original game as well as a multitude of other Steins;Gate-related media that followed it. It’s really quite interesting to see how his artstyle has evolved as the years have passed and he has gained more experience. Below are comparisons of some of his work in Steins;Gate (2009) and Steins;Gate 0 (2015).

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Speaking of praiseworthy creators, let’s not forget about the illustrious series composer Takeshi Abo, who had his own modern take on a Steins;Gate classic to contribute. Abo has been a longtime contributor to the Steins;Gate and Science Adventure series soundtracks, and is known to remix his own work on his first and second Soundcloud accounts every now and then. In celebration of Steins;Gate’s tenth anniversary, Abo has released a soothing, modern remix of Explanation, a prominent track in the visual novel.

Of course, we mustn’t forget about Nitroplus—though their contributions to Chaos;Head were much greater, Nitroplus also had a hand in the creation of the Steins;Gate visual novel. Most notably, Vio Shimokura, one of Nitroplus’ writers, contributed Suzuha’s route to the visual novel—this route is commonly considered the best side route in the game, aside from the true route.

As was previously covered, Steins;Gate Elite has been ported to iOS in celebration of the anniversary. Here’s a video of MAGES. CEO Chiyomaru Shikura showing it off.

There’s no word of an English version of the game yet, but given that the original game was released in English on iOS in 2016, it seems to be only a matter of time before we get one. It certainly helps that the game is already completely translated and released on consoles and PC.

It goes without saying that new Steins;Gate fanart and other fan work has been rampant following the arrival of the anniversary. Japanese fans haven’t been alone in their contributions, of course—fan artists from anywhere and everywhere across the globe have come together to share their love for Steins;Gate with each other in the most creative ways possible. Some of our favorite creations can be found below.

My take of the iconic Divergence Meter in celebration for its 10th Anniversary tomorrow! [Steins;Gate] from r/anime

On the Western side of the series, the anniversary has culminated into a massive sale on Steins;Gate games on most platforms. Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate 0, Steins;Gate Elite (with Linear Bounded Phenogram included), and Chaos;Child (on Steam by means of a shared bundle) are now available for purchase at record low prices.

Steins;Gate Elite’s Nintendo Switch digital purchase page can be found here. Likewise, the PlayStation 4 digital purchase page can be found here.

As for Steam, there is a wide variety of bundles and individual store pages for the Steins;Gate series. Your best bet is starting from this search page and exploring your options.

There’s not much else to be said about official celebrations in the West, but recent rumblings about a potential localization for Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace (also commonly known as Darling of Loving Vows) has got the English fanbase restless in anticipation of what is potentially a new translated Steins;Gate entry. While no official announcement has been made yet for the title, here’s hoping that one is made soon so that we have even more to celebrate!

Judging by the massive outpour of support for the title worldwide, it’s clear that even after ten years, Steins;Gate is more popular than ever before. To this we say, here’s to another ten years and beyond!

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