Showa American Story returned during gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 with a new in-game trailer, breaking almost a two-year silence since the last trailer in 2024. The new trailer follows protagonist Chigusa Choko through California and introduces several characters joining her cross-country journey, including Michael Hero, Bubba, and the mysterious Mutsuki Akitora.
The trailer is narrated by the United States’ anime-obsessed President before moving between story scenes, exploration, and Choko’s considerably bloodier encounters with the wasteland’s inhabitants. Gameplay has swords, firearms, a drill arm, executions, counters, and improvised weapons, including Choko beating enemies with an American flag.
The Japanese cast was also revealed, with Yoko Hikasa voicing Choko, Hideo Ishikawa as Michael, Hochu Otsuka as Bubba, and Hikaru Midorikawa as Akitora.
Showa American Story also continues to mix its combat with activities that directly improve Choko. We now have playable arcade games SpaceBunny and ShowaRun, obvious homages to the games of the 80s.
Other activities include training and other minigames that increase stats or unlock abilities. Choko’s weapons can be mixed and matched depending on the fight, while dialogue choices and relationships with survivors can affect parts of the world around her.
NEKCOM first revealed Showa American Story in January 2022, when its debut trailer drew attention for an alternate 1991 where Japan’s economic boom never ended, and the country bought up most of the United States. Choko, a 19-year-old stuntwoman, is killed shortly after reaching Neo Yokohama, formerly Los Angeles, only to later wake from the dead in an America overrun by zombies and monsters. She sets out across the country looking for her missing sister and answers about what happened.
The game then largely disappeared from the radar until late 2024, when we saw a road trip-themed trailer, showing Choko traveling through San Francisco, Las Vegas, Neo Tokyo-4 in Austin, and other reworked American cities.
NEKCOM delayed Showa American Story from 2025 into 2026 last November, saying development was entering its final stages but that the devs needed more time. We didn’t get any new release date information at gamescom, so the game is still tentatively scheduled for sometime in 2026 on PS5 and Steam.
