Lollipop Chainsaw remake confirmed for 2023
Director's cut.
A remake of Suda51's cult zombie game Lollipop Chainsaw has been confirmed for release next year.
Release platforms are yet to be announced, though the original game arrived for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2012.
As teased last month, this return is being overseen by Yoshimi Yasuda, the original game's executive producer, as part of his new company Dragami Games.
The remake is being developed by a combination of veteran Lollipop Chainsaw staff and newcomers, and will feature "more realistic" visuals.
Due to licensing issues, the game will largely feature a new soundtrack, Dragami Games 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 [sic] been able to access the game on current consoles," Yasuda wrote, announcing the project today (thanks, Automaton Media).
(The game is one of few titles notably absent from Microsoft's Xbox backwards compatibility programme - perhaps due to those music licensing issues.)
"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," Yasuda continued. "As such, we purchased the Lollipop Chainsaw intellectual property from Kadokawa Games, and decided to develop a remake.
"Our goal is to make it easier for games who want to play Lollipop Chainsaw to do so. Please look forward to the game's 2023 release."
Lollipop Chainsaw stars an American cheerleader in a skimpy outfit who chops up zombies while aided by her former boyfriend Nick - now a disembodied head. It was a typically unusual entry from creator Suda51, with a script worked on by James Gunn.
It garnered mixed reviews at launch and failed to generate big enough sales to warrant a sequel. Still, the game seems to have stuck around in the public consciousness.