M2 is the current custodian of Compile's iconic Aleste series of shmups and has already given us the delights of Aleste Collection, Senjin / SenXin Aleste and GG Aleste 3.
The next instalment, Aleste Branch, has been in development for a while, and M2 previously said it was almost complete last year.
Speaking in an interview with Touch Arcade, M2 CEO Naoki Horii said we don't have that much longer to wait for the game, as it is "progressing well and is now nearly complete."
Here's what Horii had to say about the game:
At the end of summer of 2023, we said “It’s pretty much done!" So we held an event where local shooting game developers could play test it and give us their opinions, and I remember seeing them and thinking we’ve finally (almost) completed the game. Seems like yesterday, but now it’s almost the summer of 2024. Isn’t that kind of crazy? It’s progressing well and is now nearly complete.