Cygames announced on October 31 that it will be personally offering refunds to Umamusume: Pretty Derby players affected by Flosta, a company that was supposed to provide custom celebratory flower arrangements at a recent live event related to the game (as reported by ITMedia).
Ahead of the “Umamusume 6th Event: The New Frontier” live performance held on October 18 and 19, Flosta offered custom flower sprays using motifs of in-game characters and personalized messages. Fans could purchase these stands and have them displayed at the event as gifts to the performing cast – a pricy but common “fandom” practice in Japan.
Flosta’s prices ranged from $450 to $600 for the custom Umamusume standing sprays, but the results were far from worth the money. On the day of the event, numerous fans complained about their orders not being displayed at the venue at all, and the orders that did make it were apparently of subpar quality, with designs significantly differing from what was requested.
The vendor issued an apology on October 22, citing that “due to insufficient preparation, we were unable to complete installation of the flower sprays in time” and that “many arrangements became unusable after being damaged in a transport accident.” At the time, Flosta promised full refunds to purchasers by the end of October.
Despite this, Cygames announced on October 31 that “after repeated discussions with Flosta, it has been confirmed they are unable to carry out the refund process.” Cygames will therefore step in to handle refunds on the company’s behalf. The developer apologized for the delay in affected fans getting their money back. While Umamusume players are thankful for Cygames taking responsibility, many can’t help but point out that it’s unfair for the developer to take on the financial burden, despite not being at fault. On the other hand, given that Cygames is technically responsible for choosing Flosta as the vendor for its event, this seems to be a necessary effort to maintain credibility and trust from fans.
