Last week, Japanese game designer Jiro Ishii and Skeleton Crew Studio announced that their massively successful crowdfunding campaign for the visual novel Shibuya Scramble Stories had run into serious trouble. Even though they raised 55 million yen (about $340 thousand USD) for the game’s development, the team has received less than half the amount, with crowdfunding platform Ubgoe refusing to pay out the remaining 27.75 million yen (over $170 thousand USD). In a new interview with Denfaminicogamer, Ishii and his legal counsel Takahiro Kasagi gave an explanation about what’s been happening between them and Ubgoe, and the details have fueled outrage and disbelief towards the platform’s brazen handling of the matter.
According to Ishii, Ubgoe was due to transfer the money raised for Shibuya Scramble Stories all the way back on September 1, 2025. When this deadline was missed, Ishii made an inquiry the very next day, but the platform’s CEO, Kazuo Okada, told him that the money was “mistakenly wired to a different client” and that it was thus impossible for the company to immediately prepare the 55-million-yen payment.
In consultation with his lawyer, Ishii made Ubgoe sign a memorandum guaranteeing that it would pay the full amount by September 16, 2026, but only 6 million yen was transferred by this date. Okada argued that his company was unable to make the payment due to the mistakenly transferred money not being returned yet. However, when asked to provide evidence of the erroneous payment, Okada repeatedly refused to show the transaction or account, and Ishii’s lawyer suspects that the claim is false to begin with, as one would normally resolve the situation by requesting a reversal from their bank.
Another horrifying detail in this case is that Ubgoe’s terms and conditions state that with every pledge, contracts are formed directly between the backer and the project owner, which means that Ishii and his team are responsible to fulfill all obligations (such as rewards and the project’s completion) regardless of whether they have actually received the money or not. In other words, there is no guarantee in place in the event of the platform running off with raised funds. Ishii commented, “I myself didn’t realize that the project owner would bear the responsibility if the collection agency absconded with the funds. I suppose I was acting under the assumption that people are inherently good.”
Thankfully, the Shibuya Scramble Stories project currently isn’t facing the risk of falling through, as it has received support from Tokyu Land Corporation amidst the financial setback. However, the developers have formed another agreement obligating Ubgoe to pay in installments, and Ishii says he feels strongly about making sure the platform returns the whole amount, given that it’s “precious money entrusted to us by our customers.”
