Steins;???

Steins;??? promotional image

Steins;??? (シュタインズ・○○, Shutainzu ○○) is a thematic sequel to Steins;Gate and its midquel, Steins;Gate 0. It was initially announced on an official October 25, 2020 livestream by MAGES. as the ninth official project in a series of ten Steins;Gate-themed projects produced to promote the title's tenth anniversary.

The title's full name is not known as of yet, hence the usage of "???" or "○○" to censor the second half of the title.

Known details

Little is currently known about the title, but MAGES. chairman Chiyomaru Shikura shared a few details on MAGES.' October 25 livestream. Most notably, Steins;??? is being developed as a thematic sequel to the Steins;Gate titles, similarly to how Chaos;Child serves as a thematic sequel to Chaos;Head, and unlike the direct-sequel relationship that Robotics;Notes DaSH shares with Robotics;Notes.

Steins;???'s status as a thematic sequel suggests that the focus of the title will shift away from the cast of Steins;Gate. It remains to be seen how deep the connections to Steins;Gate in this title will be—Chaos;Child, for instance, shares the same setting and various plot elements with its thematic prequel, Chaos;Head, but for the most part, it features a brand new cast of characters.

In regards to the title's plot, Shikura suggested that there was never any guarantee that the Steins Gate worldline would be one with a peaceful future. Naturally, this implies that Steins;??? will feature some kind of major conflict in typical Science Adventure Series fashion.

When Steins;??? was announced by Chiyomaru Shikura, Steins;Gate voice actors Asami Imai (Kurisu Makise), Mamoru Miyano (Rintaro Okabe), and Tomokazu Seki (Itaru Hashida) asked if they would have voice roles for the title. Shikura responded that they would, and Miyano joked that their voices would only be used for promotional material. It is currently not entirely clear what role, if any, these three characters and their voice actors will have in the title.

The title's exact release date and release platforms are not yet known, but an official MAGES. Twitter account suggested that the game is planned for release after Steins;Gate 0 Elite and Anonymous;Code, the latter of which released on July 28, 2022. As of October 29, 2024, the new visual novel is still in its concept phase as stated by Tatsuya Matsubara in an interview.

Internally, Steins;??? was previously referred to as "Steins;God" before a decision was made to change it.