It's been a while since we last heard any news about Black Finger Jet, the Metal Slug-like run 'n' gun being created by a group of Irem and SNK veterans.

With Kohachi Studios, the company behind it, now focusing on the promotion of Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster, it's been left a bit unclear over the past couple of years what exactly is happening with the project, and whether it has been abandoned for good or simply put to one side.

Among those who expressed concern about the project's fate was the SNK fan account @COTW_SNK_NeoGeo on Twitter/X, which lamented this weekend that the project seems to have "run into serious difficulties", prompting Kohachi Studios' CEO Shinano Ishiguro to respond with an update.

In his message, Ishiguro thanked @COTW_SNK_NeoGeo for caring so deeply about Black Finger Jet and stated that the team also wants to bring the game to fans "as soon as possible", but its developers have "an extremely strong commitment to what Black Finger JET should be."

As a result, it claims "releasing a compromised or half-finished version would be worse than not releasing it at all."

Because of this, the team is continuing to refine the game behind closed doors for now and is seeking additional funds to complete the project—something it hopes the future sales of Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster could help with.

Considering Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster was recently delayed until 2027, it's highly likely that we're still a long way out from Black Finger Jet being completed, which is obviously disappointing considering it was first announced all the way back in 2023. But it's encouraging at least to hear the team hasn't stopped thinking about the project, and that the studio does still intend to finish it.

With that in mind, we just hope that there aren't any further complications with Navinosuke that may potentially delay Black Finger Jet even more.

Here's Ishiguro's statement in full, for posterity:

"Thank you for caring so deeply about Black Finger JET and for continuing to wait for it all these years. We’re truly sorry that we’ve kept everyone waiting for so long, and we also want to bring the game to you as soon as possible.

At the same time, we have an extremely strong commitment to what Black Finger JET should be. We feel that releasing a compromised or half-finished version would be worse than not releasing it at all. We will therefore continue refining the game until we are genuinely satisfied with the result. We know that asking everyone to wait even longer is not easy, but this commitment to quality is an essential part of our studio’s philosophy.

We’re also genuinely happy that you’re willing to give Navinosuke a chance. It is an important project to us in its own right, and its success will also help us secure the additional development funding needed for Black Finger JET. In that sense, Navinosuke is also a very important project for the future of BFJ.

Thank you again for continuing to believe in Black Finger JET."