A remaster of The 25th Ward is currently in development at Grasshopper Manufacture, Goichi Suda (Suda51) revealed at BitSummit, an independent games event in Japan (via IGN).
The 25th Ward was released exclusively in Japan as an episodic mobile game between 2005 and 2007. The updated edition, titled The 25th Ward: The Silver Case, is a direct sequel to The Silver Case, a visual novel with text-based puzzles. While Suda51 didn’t announce a western release date for the remaster, there’s reason to suspect that the title will arrive stateside. First, the announcement was publicized on Grasshopper’s English Twitter account, and second, recent history is a pretty good indicator.
The Silver Case, Grasshopper Manufacture’s first game, originally launched in 1998 in Japan. While many Grasshopper titles have received western releases, The Silver Case only arrived stateside recently with its PC remaster in 2016 and PS4 version in April. Speaking with Famitsu, Suda51 only confirmed a PC version of The 25th Ward: The Silver Case, while claiming that it will be closer to a remake than a remaster.
Grasshopper Manufacture, and Suda51 in particular, has received a cult-like following in the west, starting with the launch of Killer7 in 2005. Since then, Grasshopper titles such as No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, and, most recently, Let It Die, have achieved acclaim and popularity outside of Japan. All of Suda51’s games that have done well in the west, however, have been action-oriented, which might explain why it has taken so long for English localizations of The Silver Case, and, presumably, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case.
Grasshopper also announced that a free update will be available for The Silver Case on PC starting May 30, which will add the two additional chapters that the PS4 version launched with in April.
Along with the remaster of The 25th Ward, Grasshopper announced earlier this year that it is currently developing a third, currently untitled No More Heroes title for Nintendo Switch.
