FAKKU has launched Dead of the Brain: Day of the Living Dead on Steam, delivering the first official English localisation of FairyTale's 1992 PC-98 horror adventure to a wider audience.
Released on 30 October 2026 as the opening entry in FAKKU's planned Nightmare Collection, the rerelease brings a formative, gore-forward point-and-click title from Japan's early 1990s PC-98 era to modern Windows PCs.
Background and context
Dead of the Brain originally debuted in 1992 on NEC's PC-9800 series, a platform that hosted a broad range of Japanese indie and doujin development in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
FairyTale produced a string of adventure and horror titles during that period; the studio's shift toward horror followed a controversial episode tied to its earlier erotic games.
Historically, that controversy culminated in the arrest of FairyTale's president and contributed to the establishment of the Ethics Organisation of Computer Software (EOCS), which shaped software regulation in Japan.
Paraphrased publisher statement
FAKKU positioned Dead of the Brain as the first in a series of PC-98 rereleases that the publisher intends to bring to Steam, some of which will receive full English localisations for the first time.
The publisher has identified additional PC-98-era titles in its pipeline but has not announced release dates.
Game details and legacy
Dead of the Brain mixes window-driven, point-and-click mechanics with visual-novel elements and early QTE-like sequences, using a simple interface to foreground its horror imagery.
The narrative centers on an ambitious scientist, Dr. Cooger, whose reanimation serum unleashes a brain-eating outbreak, leaving protagonist Cole to halt the resulting zombie rampage.
FairyTale followed the title with Dead of the Brain 2 (1993) and the science-horror Marine Philt (1993); the studio's early 1990s catalogue also saw ports to platforms such as the PC Engine CD and the MSX 2.
What comes next
FAKKU has named several other PC-98-era projects earmarked for localisation in its Nightmare Collection, including Dengeki Nurse (1992), Necronomicon (1992), and Dracula Hakushaku (1992).
As of this writing, no release windows for those titles have been confirmed.
For fans of retro horror and PC-98 preservation, the Steam release of Dead of the Brain represents a notable, official step in bringing niche Japanese horror classics to contemporary audiences.
Released on 30 October 2026 as the opening entry in FAKKU's planned Nightmare Collection, the rerelease brings a formative, gore-forward point-and-click title from Japan's early 1990s PC-98 era to modern Windows PCs.
Background and context
Dead of the Brain originally debuted in 1992 on NEC's PC-9800 series, a platform that hosted a broad range of Japanese indie and doujin development in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
FairyTale produced a string of adventure and horror titles during that period; the studio's shift toward horror followed a controversial episode tied to its earlier erotic games.
Historically, that controversy culminated in the arrest of FairyTale's president and contributed to the establishment of the Ethics Organisation of Computer Software (EOCS), which shaped software regulation in Japan.
Paraphrased publisher statement
FAKKU positioned Dead of the Brain as the first in a series of PC-98 rereleases that the publisher intends to bring to Steam, some of which will receive full English localisations for the first time.
The publisher has identified additional PC-98-era titles in its pipeline but has not announced release dates.
Game details and legacy
Dead of the Brain mixes window-driven, point-and-click mechanics with visual-novel elements and early QTE-like sequences, using a simple interface to foreground its horror imagery.
The narrative centers on an ambitious scientist, Dr. Cooger, whose reanimation serum unleashes a brain-eating outbreak, leaving protagonist Cole to halt the resulting zombie rampage.
FairyTale followed the title with Dead of the Brain 2 (1993) and the science-horror Marine Philt (1993); the studio's early 1990s catalogue also saw ports to platforms such as the PC Engine CD and the MSX 2.
What comes next
FAKKU has named several other PC-98-era projects earmarked for localisation in its Nightmare Collection, including Dengeki Nurse (1992), Necronomicon (1992), and Dracula Hakushaku (1992).
As of this writing, no release windows for those titles have been confirmed.
For fans of retro horror and PC-98 preservation, the Steam release of Dead of the Brain represents a notable, official step in bringing niche Japanese horror classics to contemporary audiences.
