Japanese indie developer and YouTuber Nupuryu recently reported that their bank is refusing to process an international transfer from the publisher of their game. The bank has refused to disclose the reason behind the decision.
Nupuryu is the creator of titles like Ruins Seeker, an adult action RPG released on the domestic game platform DLsite in 2019, followed by Steam and GOG releases in 2020. The current issue revolves around a Steam version of one of their titles.
As the developer writes in an X post from July 30, Rakuten Bank, one of Japan’s biggest online banks, has blocked a remittance (presumably related to revenue from the game’s sales) from their overseas publisher. “I guess it really may be their policy to just not accept international transfers related to R-rated games. It’s the co-called debanking issue, but information on the topic is hard to come by. I’ll be sharing what I find out,” they wrote.
In a follow-up post, Nupuryu mentions visiting their bank over the issue and providing them with a copy of their contract with their publisher which details the various terms of the agreement and game title. However, upon reviewing the case, Rakuten Bank notified the developer of a rejection. Nupuryu attached a screenshot of an email they received from Rakuten Bank’s monitoring department for international transfers, which reads, “Based on our review, we are unable to accept this incoming payment from overseas. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but we will proceed with the refund process to the sender.”
Moreover, the bank notes it is “unable to disclose the specific reason for the refusal,” which leaves the developer with little to work with towards resolving the issue. Nupuryu’s case is one of many similar instances of debanking in recent years. In May this year, Japanese indie developer Mousou no Mayu was denied a transfer from their publisher related to Steam revenue from an all-ages version of their adult game. In this case, the developer was probed with questions like, “is this revenue from a game featuring girls?”, and the bank made it clear that the rejection was made following a “thorough review of the game’s content.”
Similarly, Mai Itsuki of adult game circle Ren reported in April that their bank had halted all transactions related to revenue from overseas versions of their games, citing “certain risks.” The decision was maintained despite the developer providing proof of their business being legally sound, as well as a history of selling their game in the US without issue for a whole year prior. It might be worth noting that in all of these cases, different banks were in question, so it doesn’t seem to be a matter of a specific bank having a policy against transactions related to adult games.
Absolute fucking tyranny!
The American payment processors like VISA and MASTERCARD already got caught red-handed a couple years ago, trying to dictate what kind of LEGAL media products people can buy AND sell. They’re outright RACIST towards anything Japanese at this point!
Again with this sh*t, seriously. This is why all banks want rid of physical cash, so they and governments will tell you what you can and can’t buy with your own money. This has to stop, it starts here and eventually it becomes what car you can buy, what medication and what food. It’s a very slippery slope and we need off it quickly.
What frustrates me is that there is literally no harm to the banks. Processing money is how they MAKE money. They have every reason to let this through, but instead they find it more appealing to deprive someone of a perfectly legal livelihood. Just gross.
Oh, right. All while OnlyFans and CP transactions can get through, I bet? 🥴
Payment processors need a legal crack down ASAP, this and more is utterly unacceptable on a global scale. There needs to be severe repercussions for this kind of criminal theft and censorship.
They forgot that they must serve to the people, not dictate us what to do. And I’m afraid soft revolution won’t do.
This is a central issue, so why won’t Japan complain about Rakuten?
Doesn’t Rakuten have services that accept VISA/MasterCard? Maybe that’s why.
That’s insane that they can just withhold money earned through legitimate business. Violent games go untouched but God forbid adults play games with sex in them. Ass backwards puritanical world.
All the pedophiles in the comments mad cause they can’t have their weird adult game with literal child looking characters inside
It’s hard to explain how serious this is, and how scary it is to have censorship of media just become a standard expectation in the world of storytelling. Debanking, fascism, just matter-of-fact censoring of women’s bodies in stories, this has reached a boiling point to me that we need to start taking incredibly seriously.
Blue Reflection Quartet just released and, as will surprise nobody here, it was massively censored from the original release. And that original release contained no actual, full nudity to speak of, and what partial nudity there is doesn’t occur in any actual sexual scenarios. It’s completely benign, and yet it’s being thrown out entirely.
There’s no explanation, no excuse, other than “We’re getting with the times.” But, I’m sorry, if your “times” are a time of great censoring, then that’s fascism and it absolutely needs to stop. Help. Someone who cares. Someone who can actually do something. The media, whoever, this website — talk to these developers. Ask them why, and tell them “we are getting with the times” isn’t a good enough explanation. Force them to explain.
We need to get out of this or it really doesn’t matter what you like in your media, it’ll be erased. LGBT stories? Gone. Trad stuff? Gone. Doesn’t matter. Everything will be erased.