Thanks to its imminent US release and recent appearance at Amusement Expo 2025, one of the most talked about arcade titles right now is Sega’s mainstay rhythm game, Maimai DX. However, most fans will be aware that it is not their only titan of that genre, both in the arcades and homes – Chunithm being its biggest cousin for the former, the latter being their many releases surrounding the continually popular vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku, of which the Project Sekai’s Colorful Stage mobile app is most prominent.
Now, in an explosive, EXCLUSIVE scoop, Arcade Heroes has today received very early word of Sega’s next plan of attack as the rhythm gaming scene heats up… which we can reveal involves both of those aforementioned titles. This is Project Sekai X Chunithm: Colorful Stage Hyper Arcade.
UPDATE: An important note has been added to the bottom of this post. Be sure to check it before you click off to somewhere else!
Colorful Stage Hyper Arcade – Chunithm & Hatsune Miku Project Sekai Collide
Despite its high popularity among young audiences, some of our readers may not know much about Project Sekai. For a quick fill-in on that, since 2020 it has been Sega and Colorful Palette’s main ‘project’ involving world famous vocaloid Hatsune Miku, centered around a mobile rhythm game, Colorful Stage. This shares some gameplay similarities with Sega’s Chunithm in arcades (and has collaborated with it for content on occasion). It has been so wildly successful that it even received its own movie recently.
Some may recall the first Hatsune Miku rhythm game project Sega were involved with was Project DIVA, which got some prominent arcade releases from AM2 way back when. Initially being a mobile-centric franchise, however, Project Sekai has not had a true arcade outing… until now:
Off the back of all their similarities and collaboration content, the logical next step would of course be to bring Project Sekai and Chunithm together once and for all in their own very special arcade game. That is exactly what Sega seems to be doing with Colorful Stage Hyper Arcade.
In terms of what we can expect from this, the information from our anonymous source (who wishes to be known as “Lirpa Sloof“) that shared this early glimpse of the game with us includes:
- Available as a conversion kit update for existing Chunithm cabinets at a lower cost; new cabinet price not determined but will be “cheaper than Maimai DX”
- New and improved “Sekai Slider” controller
- Licensed song mix totaling over 800 titles from Project Sekai and Chunithm, with more to launch in the future
- Dynamic “Colorful Stage” LED waterfall light feature, featuring more expressive colors
- Upgraded 5.1ch audio system
- Aime support (joining Maimai DX and Chunithm in this regard)
- Special benefits for those who sign up for accounts with Aime cards, including the chance to win tickets for a rumored upcoming Miku performance at the Hollywood Bowl
- No online fees
Although the release has not been officially revealed yet, it is understood that this game will begin testing in Japan on April 31st, with a view to releasing next year, and – particularly providing that Maimai DX‘s Stateside release does the business – receive a worldwide rollout in North America, Europe, Asia, and even South America… including the likes of Brazil, where Miku has gained a noteworthy cult following!
We’re sure that this news will interest many a Chunithm and Project Sekai fan alike. Are you looking forward to Project Sekai X Chunithm: Colorful Stage Hyper Arcade?
UPDATE: It’s that time of year again – yes, this is of course an April Fools joke. Credit to Ted for much of the copy and original idea here this time; Jdevy had prepared a different joke for breakout card game hit Balatro bringing back Adrenaline Amusements’ old TouchFX cabinet as a videmption piece, which you can see here, but it felt better to go for something more zeitgeisty in both the arcade world and home gaming scenes. Hopefully you got a good laugh out of it; here’s the previous five years of pieces for the occasion:
2024- Five Nights At Freddy’s Comes To Arcades!
2023- Rocket League Is Blasting Into Arcades!
2022- Among Us Is Headed To Arcades!
