While I'd agree that this development has little impact on the Western Touhou community, I'm still interested in how this will be handled since it's similar to a certain other project that matters more with respect to us. With that said, I dug up a bit more information about this specific project, and found a post by HJISTC, the circle's leader, in the comments section of a
promotional video on bilibili. This post is numbered 450, and should be on the 7th page as of this post. I've translated it to the best of my ability, though others with some knowledge of Chinese (looking at you, cuc) can, and are encouraged to, join and interpret the original text from their point of view. Commentary from me will be
(italicized) to separate them from the translation.
感觉牛吹的太大有点虚。。。好多人支持我们,而且投个票毕竟要花钱,搞的有点敏感了。
保守一点还是重申一下:
I feel a bit disconcerted about this... Many people are supporting us, paying to cast their votes, and it makes the situation somewhat sensitive. To be safe, let me reiterate:
1.上PS4这事还不一定成,看我们游戏够不够好,也得看ZUN是不是同意,还得看政策法律行不行。
1. A PS4 release is unlikely, depending on whether our game is good enough, whether ZUN allows it or not, and whether policies and laws allow us as well.
(The circle mentions that certain regulations may prevent the PS4 release from the get-go.)2.我们会努力去办,不是为了商业目的,主要是为了把流程走通,对大家都有好处。
2. We will strive to go with the above [point], not for commercial purposes, but to finish our project, while benefitting everyone.
(They also mention that they are doing what they are doing purely for non-commercial purposes. I interpreted the "对大家都有好处" as "benefitting everyone", meaning both the copyright holder (ZUN) and the Touhou fan community.)3.PC版也会有,按照目前PS4的几个东方游戏来看,都是先有PC版的,我们不会?为了盈利?而放弃PC平台。
3. There will be a PC version, following in-line with the few Touhou games on PS4, which all had a PC version first. We will not exclude the PC platform because of "for profit" reasons.
(I believe that is done so to stay in-line with what Japanese developers have done. That is, release the game on PCs and if possible, other platforms (PS4, in this case). Also, since this is China we're talking about, concerns over piracy have been brought up, namely the fact that the PC version will be easier to distribute illegally.)4.我们目前都还在开发中,游戏本身制作方面就不会很快出来,最终的东西也可能不会有玩家想想中那么厉害牛b。
4. We are still in the middle of development, so aspects related to game production will not be revealed too quickly. The final product might not even be as amazing as some players imagine it to be.
(Basically, they're saying that fans shouldn't get too excited about the game based on what is shown in development-progress videos.)5.咱没有强制大家去怎么样,投票那个钱也不归我们,我们要票的目的是获得ps4的关注,让同人游戏也被关注,而且如果赢了对制作组来说,能拿到PS4的开发资格。
5. We are not forcing people to do anything, the money spent on votes do not belong to us. The purpose of receiving votes is so the ps4 campaign will notice us, as well as doujin games. Even if we do win a development kit, we still need PS4-development rights.
(I think this is to clear up any questions people might have regarding where the money they spend ends up. Once again, they mention that they still need permission to develop for the PS4.)这里面不确定性还很多,请不要过于期待,这里面不可抗力也很多,我们制作组方面会尽量努力的,也可能坑,看大家信任不信任了。
There is strong uncertainty with this, so please don't expect too much, since there are many things beyond our reach. We will put our best foot forward, and we might be able to succeed. All that's left is whether others believe in us.
(There is, indeed. While the leader has contacted ZUN about this project, that was before the Modian campaign started. If ZUN does step in, I'd imagine they'd back away from developing this game for the PS4 if they want to stay out of legal trouble.)