In a somewhat unfortunate turn of events, Japanese solo game developer Hyogo Onimushi recently took to X to clarify that their popular indie mystery game Return to Shironagasu Island draws no inspiration whatsoever from the real-life Jeffrey Epstein case and the private island owned by Epstein.
“Okay… just for the record, I did not even remotely base Return to Shironagasu Island on the Epstein Island scandal. For starters, the Epstein case came to light in 2019, while the first edition of my game launched in the Summer of 2017, at Comiket (the full version came out around 2018).”
Return to Shironagasu Island is a horror murder mystery visual novel with point-and-click investigation gameplay. You play as a detective who travels to the secluded island of Shironagasu after receiving a mysterious invitation in the suicide note of a millionaire. Working together with an awkward genius girl who has photographic memory, you need to uncover the island’s disturbing secrets and escape with your life.
The game sold over 210,000 copies by 2024, and is currently rated Very Positive on Steam. However, due to its dark themes and “secluded island” setting, it seems the game has earned comparisons to the Jeffrey Epstein case, with some players even assuming developer Onimushi may have drawn influence from it. “I bet you’ve heard this a thousand times already, but whenever I see articles about Epstein Island, I remember Return to Shironagasu Island,” a fan wrote to developer Onimushi on X.
But as Onimushi explains, not only did they not refer to the real-life case, but they physically couldn’t have, as news about Jeffrey Epstein’s private island only became publicly known in 2019. Meanwhile, although it launched on Steam in 2020, Return to Shironagasu Island’s physical copies were already in circulation as early as 2017. Despite this timeline, it seems the coincidental similarities are enough for Onimushi to frequently get asked about whether they based the game on the Jeffrey Epstein case. “It’s a real predicament…” they tell a commenter on X.
Return to Shironagasu Island is available for PC (Steam, itch.io) and Nintendo Switch. In March 2025, the game got a major update that added full Japanese voice acting and new scenes. Onimushi is currently developing a sequel too.
I thought we were past these sort of accusations when media started including “real-life comparisons are purely coincidental” disclaimers back in the 1900s. Some people are still mentally slow, it seems.