What is likely going on is that “strategy” bit; it’s a game they are either slowly working on, or have put on hold temporarily, because a game as complex as Steambot Chronicles is hard for them to finance, especially given the risky financial environment of the games industry specifically and the economy in general. Remember that the engine that ran Steambot Chronciles was similar to their “disaster” series of games on the PS2, and also for a PS2 pachinko/gambling game; they financed their “dream” projects through the pachinko parlor simulator, and reused the engine they had created for other purposes.

Likely we have a similar thing going on here; Irem is developing games that they can reasonably produce a profit from, while developing Steambot Chronicles 2 in the background, reusing technology whenever possible to keep development costs down.

It’s annoying, but I’d prefer the more stable Irem over the foibles of some of the older arcade-era companies, such as SNK, who always have trouble making money because they produce games for a niche market, a potentially lucrative but still dangerous gamble.

Put it off till they have gathered enough cash to do it or tell people that they just can’t do it. If I remember correctly it was Milestone, the developer of Chaosfield, Radirgy etc. that asked fans to preorder in advance to let them release the game – and it worked out in the end. So, if Irem would ask fans whether they really Steambot 2, up to the point of preordering it, well …. I want to believe that people would buy it. I’ll wait for it to be released in 20xx … as long as there’s hope.