Retro Rail GO! Renamed to Retro Rail: Japan! Following Plagiarism Criticism
Developer Barely Making Games announced on July 8 that it will complete the railway simulation game 'Retro Rail GO!', which had been under consideration for cancellation after widespread criticism of its similarity to Taito's 'Densha de GO!' series. The title has been changed to 'Retro Rail: Japan!', and the in-game UI and demo version have been updated. The developer stated it made the changes not because it yielded to criticism, but to maintain a healthy and safe development path. The core gameplay remains unchanged. The demo update removed all AI-generated placeholder assets and replaced them with artist-created works, switched the train horn sound to one more characteristic of Japanese trains, added station character sprites and crossing gate models, and fixed UI scaling for widescreen aspect ratios. The developer also emphasized that no copyrighted materials were used. The game is set in a fictional Japanese railway route with retro 3D graphics reminiscent of 1990s simulators. It will offer two modes: Casual mode with relaxed schedules and Professional mode with strict timetable adherence and two-step notch control. Early access release on PC via Steam is planned within 2026. A demo is currently available.