The first game, developed by KLab and published by Bushiroad's Bushimo, was released in Japan on April 15, 2013, for iOS and June 8, 2013, for Android.

[9] In the game, Aqours received original main and side stories, playable songs, and fully voiced cards.

KLab added R rarity cards for each Aqours members on January 31, 2016, though they were only voiced after the official release in July.

Another difficulty called "Master" was added, and included rhythm icons where players had to swipe their fingers on the screen during some songs.

merchandise, clearing quests, purchasing through Sticker Shop, scouting using Gs, or simply logging in to the game.

These cards featured characters around the main groups such as the girls' mothers, school friends and teachers, and even animals.

These cards could be obtained by logging in, special box scouting, in-game event rewards, or purchasing a limited time sale pack.

The collaboration event with mobile TCG, Shadowverse, was held in both of the games (September 20–30 within the School Idol Festival app).

[29] A Code Geass x School Idol Festival collaboration event was announced in March 2022 as a part of the game's 9th anniversary campaign.

[23] An offline local version is provided after service terminated on March 31 16:00 (UTC+9), to let players view the albums (idol cards) and titles got in the game.

[39] They first appeared for a limited time from December 6, 2017, until January 8, 2018, as a preliminary trial as part of the game's 1st anniversary campaign.

[40] In April 2018, Square Enix announced the game will receive a major update titled Love Live!

The gameplay is similar to its mobile counterpart, however the arcade version uses nine physical buttons placed around the display panel instead of touchscreen.

However, in order to reach higher score and ranking, the player must hit all nine "Finale Rhythm Icons", which is a note with a star, anchor, or snowman (μ's, Aqours, and Saint Snow modes respectively).

When all nine are collected, the Finale Mode begins, usually at the song's outro, where all notes will yield extra score points.

[54] Unlike the arcade version, SIFAC HM has its own difficulty levels to accommodate for DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers.

[55] Another difference from the arcade version is the player can unlock a costume set by "creating" it, using materials received from playing Live Shows.

[56] An infamous bug occurred in the first day after the Next Stage update had been released for the arcades in 2018, wherein sometimes the characters appeared to be naked during the dance sequences.

This bug was widely shared on Twitter as screenshots and clips of dancing "Barbie doll-esque" nude characters during gameplay had been spread across it.

[61] Nijigasaki High School Idol Club performs the opening theme titled "Tokimeki Runners.

[63] A global version which features English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Thai languages was released on February 25, 2020.

School Idol Festival with LLAS, players were able to port their rank and their progress made in the game to the new title.

Emma, Kanata Konoe, and Shizuku Osaka were three members who were already featured as N-rarity girls and topped the 3rd popularity poll.

[70][71] The remaining 6 girls were later introduced: Ayumu Uehara, Kasumi Nakasu, Karin Asaka, Ai Miyashita, Setsuna Yuki, and Rina Tennoji.

[65] Unlike μ's and Aqours, they are not a group, but rather individual school idols who compete with each other; Until 2019, a popularity poll was held every month to determine their rank.

[76] The anime features a slightly different storyline from the game, original protagonist character Yu Takasaki, as well as cameos from School Idol Festival N-rarity girls who did not make it into the "Perfect Dream Project."

A second season premiered in April 2022, with the three new members that were added to the game—Shioriko Mifune, Mia Taylor, and Lanzhu Zhong— making their appearance.

The first manga, titled Sugoi Ten Fes (すごい てん☆ふぇす), was focused on the N-rarity members who topped the popularity poll: Shizuku Ōsaka, Kanata Konoe, and Emma Verde.

[81] As of September 12, 2017[update], the game has reached over 40 million users worldwide (Japanese and Global server combined).

KLab has since issued a statement on the controversy and later released an update on June 30, 2015, to make adjustments to the translated text to retain their original meanings.