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 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 the Steam version, which is published internationally by US-based publisher Kagura Games.
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.
