PS1 Exclusive 'The Drug Store' Stealth-Released on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 After 28 Years

A 1998 PS1 exclusive lands on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2

The PlayStation 1 exclusive title "The Drug Store," originally developed by Human Entertainment and never released outside Japan, was stealth-released on the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch platforms via the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eShop, respectively. The re-release arrives 28 years after the game's original Japanese launch in 1998, putting the 1990s-era business simulation in front of North American and European audiences for the first time. Because no localization work was done, all in-game text remains in Japanese.

Developer history and the reissue partner

Human Entertainment, which originally developed the title, shut down in 2020, with its staff dispersed into successor studios including Grasshopper Manufacture, Spike, Nude Maker, and Sandlot. The current re-release is being handled by Hamster Corporation, a publisher that specializes in porting older games to modern hardware and also re-released two NES games during the same week. "The Drug Store" is a spin-off of "The Conveni" series and was a relatively obscure release even at original launch, a factor tied to why it never crossed into Western markets at the time.

Reaction to the unlocalized port

Coverage notes that the trailer for the re-release drew a flood of comments criticizing the absence of English localization, a recurring pattern with Hamster Corporation reissues. Industry observers cited by the reporting attribute the no-localization approach to economics: only titles that already shipped with an English version receive one on re-release, since adding it post hoc would make the low-volume nostalgia ports unprofitable.

Other developments

Separately, publisher Fictions and developer Panache Digital Games announced that an open-world survival remaster, "Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey," will launch on December 8 for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with existing owners eligible for a free upgrade.