AKIBA LOST

AKIBA LOST is a live-action suspense game developed and published by IzanagiGames, directed and produced by Shinsuke Umeda. It is set in Akihabara, Tokyo, and combines a multi-perspective visual novel with filmed cinematics and a 360 degree camera system. The title won the Future Division prize at the 2025 Japan Game Awards.

The story concerns Daiki Shinjo, the founder of Shirosawa Games, whose youngest sister Ruri was one of six girls who vanished in Akihabara 13 years ago in a set of unsolved cases known as The Akiba Vanishing. Shinjo announces at the Tokyo Game Expo that he will make a game based on the incident, after which the disappearances begin again. Following a threatening phone call, his other sister Aoi, a maid cafe manager, goes missing. The cast also includes game streamer Yukimi Kurahashi, food writer Moe Kurosu, underground idol Kokone Nagato, shrine maiden Chihiro Jimbo and cosplayer Wakana Yusa. Shinjo is played by Hiromitsu Kitayama, with the six women played by Sayuri Matsumura, Momoko Tanabe, Misato Ugaki, Yui Oguri, Azusa Ohara and MINA.

Players switch freely between the seven characters to view the same timeline from different perspectives, and choices made as one character can affect the fate of another. The story branches according to decisions taken, with multiple endings. A Freeze and Activate system locks certain story paths until progress is made in a different character’s route. The 360 degree view lets players look around from each character’s point of view during scenes, and buddy characters accompany the protagonists throughout the story.