A Lollipop Chainsaw remake has been announced for 2023

A remake of cult action game Lollipop Chainsaw has been announced by one of its former publishers.

Yoshimi Yasuda was previously the CEO of Kadokawa Games, which published Grasshopper Manufacture titles Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead in Japan. He was also executive producer on both titles.

In May it was announced that Yasuda would be leaving Kadokawa and would be establishing a new company called Dragami Games, and now Yasuda has confirmed that a Lollipop Chainsaw remake is one of the company’s first projects.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Yasuda said: “Unfortunately, various factors resulted in things making it so that fans can no longer easily play Lollipop Chainsaw, and it has been some time since players have not been able to access the game on current consoles.

“We, the original development staff on Lollipop Chainsaw, think of the game as very precious to us, and did not want to leave it in limbo, where players who want to play it cannot.

“As such, we purchased the Lollipop Chainsaw intellectual property from Kadokawa Games, and decided to develop a remake. We have already contacted Warner Bros [who published the game outside Asia] about development, and are being supported by them in this endeavour.”

Yasuda added that while most of the original staff are working on the remake, some elements will be different from the original 2012 game.

“For instance, the original game had 15 licensed songs used in the soundtrack, but it is unfortunately difficult for us to implement all of them this time,” he explained. “As a result, aside from a few licensed tracks, the soundtrack will consist of new music.

“Additionally, since we have access to consoles with higher specifications, we will be taking a more realistic approach to the graphics this time.

“In any case, our goal is to make it easier for gamers who want to play Lollipop Chainsaw to do so. Please look forward to the game’s 2023 release.”

It doesn’t appear that the original game’s creative director Suda51 will be involved in the remake. When Yasuda stated last month that he planned to bring the IP back in some form, Suda made no mention of the announcement on social media, though he did celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary on Twitter the week before.

Lollipop Chainsaw was released in 2012 on Xbox 360 and PS3, and has never seen a subsequent re-release. The game is not backwards compatible on Xbox, and isn’t listed among the streamable PS3 games on the new PS Plus.

As such, there’s no way to play it on either current or last-gen consoles, and there was never a PC release.

Further reading

1

Suda51 may reveal the next Grasshopper Manufacture game this year

Suda's latest game, No More Heroes 3, arrives on PS5, Xbox and PC this fall

The game has a cult following due to its over-the-top storyline and sexualised action. It follows Juliet Starling (voiced by Tara Strong), a cheerleader who has to save her school from a zombie invasion.

Juliet is accompanied by her boyfriend Nick, who’s been reduced to a talking disembodied head who’s attached to her belt.

Lollipop Chainsaw received generally positive reviews at launch, with critics forgiving its occasionally repetitive gameplay because of its sense of humour and unique style.