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This KFC Colonel Sanders dating sim is totally real

Please welcome the chiseled, anime Colonel Sanders and his Finger Lickin' Good Dating Simulator on the Steam gaming site.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
colonelsanders

Colonel Sanders like you've never seen him before: hot as a wing just out of the fryer.

KFC

You dated a dinosaur. You romanced a pigeon. Now it's time to pursue the Colonel. I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin' Good Dating Simulator has appeared on gaming site Steam and, yeah, we're not making this up.

It has a trailer video, stills and a premise that places you as a culinary school student trying to date your classmate Colonel Sanders. KFC's founder and mascot looks simultaneously old and young as a buff, androgynous, prematurely gray hipster who definitely would be willing to try KFC's new plant-based nuggets.

The game promises hours of play-through, secret recipes and "life-changing decisions" that will have "real consequences with real animated characters' feelings at stake."

Our biggest question: Really?! The game description answers this: "Officially created by KFC. No, really." I called the KFC media hotline and left a message just in case. I heard back from KFC with, "Yes, it is true." The game is free and will be available starting Sept. 24. 

This anime Colonel is a far cry from the fried chicken empire's other recent incarnations of the man: the soft, comical Sean Astin version and the apparently official Halloween costume.  

KFC isn't afraid to pull strange marketing stunts involving RoboCop, Cheetos or fried-chicken sunscreen, so the release of a Steam dating sim would be just another day in the brand's PR department. 

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Originally published Sept. 20, 7:19 a.m. PT.
Update, 11:02 a.m. PT: Adds KFC confirmation and release date.