Via an update published to the Google Play Store on August 18, Steins;Gate’s Android port now features English- and Korean-language support. Per its changelog, the app has also seemingly been updated to introduce compatibility with more recent Android versions (10 and above).
The featured English localization appears to be identical to the script used in both Steins;Gate’s Steam and JAST releases, save for a few oddities; pictured below, for instance, is a scene from the game’s prologue wherein an English quotation mark is mistakenly switched out for a Japanese quotation mark.
While somewhat functional, we have found the port has its fair share of issues. Noted during testing were a lack of support for word-wrapping, a lack of animated lip flaps as voicelines play, and a lack of voiceline-textflow synchronization—all of which are features supported in most other versions of the game. The game additionally does not accommodate aspect ratios above 16:9, though it should be noted that this is the standard across all versions of the game.
Our staff also initially came across a number of performance issues, as tested on a OnePlus 9 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and Adreno 660 GPU). The game ran rather sluggishly overall, with framerate readings averaging in the low- to mid-tens. Staff also found hardware temperatures rose significantly during playtime, despite CPU usage clocking in at around 50%, and GPU usage at 6% in the phone’s performance mode.
As testing continued, staff noted the game gradually ironed out many of these performance issues itself toward the latter half of the prologue. However, despite readings of a flawless 60 FPS, certain animations—such as the tap-to-continue icon, and particularly the spark effects used in the Radio Kaikan rooftop scene—continued to play sluggishly, suggesting they may have been limited in framerate due to other constraints. A subsequent restart of the app resulted, once again, in extremely low overall framerate counts.
Lastly, and perhaps most notably, neither the app nor the Google Play Store made apparent the price of the overall game. While users are permitted to download the app at no charge and play through the prologue, proceeding past the prologue requires an in-app purchase—the price of which is not explicitly disclosed. The user is simply presented with a pop-up asking if they agree to complete the transaction.
As a result of our findings, we would advise against pursuing this version of Steins;Gate over others, particularly given its undisclosed price point. The PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch versions of the game offer similar on-the-go experiences, while also providing more consistent performance; given a lack of all other options, however, the Android port may narrowly meet readers’ needs.
We will strive to keep you updated as more Steins;Gate news arises. Click here to view our previous reporting on the title.
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