{"id":65475,"date":"2026-04-20T18:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=65475"},"modified":"2026-04-20T18:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:29:17","slug":"japanese-340k-crowdfunded-visual-novel-is-still-missing-more-than-half-its-funds-after-issues-with-platform-but-devs-confirm-that-development-will-absolutely-not-be-halted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-340k-crowdfunded-visual-novel-is-still-missing-more-than-half-its-funds-after-issues-with-platform-but-devs-confirm-that-development-will-absolutely-not-be-halted\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese $340k crowdfunded visual novel is still missing more than half its funds after issues with platform, but devs confirm that development \u201cwill absolutely not be halted\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Since last month, Japanese game creator Jiro Ishii and Skeleton Crew Studio have been facing serious complications with their massively successful crowd campaign for the upcoming visual novel <strong>Shibuya Scramble Stories<\/strong>, the spiritual successor to Spike Chunsoft\u2019s cult classic <strong>428: Shibuya Scramble<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u6e0b\u8c37\u5b9f\u5199ADV\u30bf\u30a4\u30c8\u30eb\u767a\u8868!!\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qOU09oQjSmA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After the crowdfunding platform Ubgoe <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/developers-who-crowdfunded-340k-game-budget-are-seeking-legal-action-after-platform-fails-to-pay-out-over-half-the-amount-raised\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/developers-who-crowdfunded-340k-game-budget-are-seeking-legal-action-after-platform-fails-to-pay-out-over-half-the-amount-raised\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failed to pay out the full amount of the raised 55 million yen<\/a> (about $340k USD), under the explanation that they had <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-crowdfunded-340k-game-still-missing-half-its-funds-as-platform-claims-it-accidentally-sent-the-money-elsewhere\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-crowdfunded-340k-game-still-missing-half-its-funds-as-platform-claims-it-accidentally-sent-the-money-elsewhere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mistakenly transferred the assets to another client<\/a>, the developers were left with less than a half of their money and a mountain of obligations they have to fulfill towards their backers. To make the situation more complicated, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-crowdfunding-platform-that-allegedly-ran-off-with-more-than-half-of-ishii-jiros-340k-game-budget-suddenly-becomes-inaccessible\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-crowdfunding-platform-that-allegedly-ran-off-with-more-than-half-of-ishii-jiros-340k-game-budget-suddenly-becomes-inaccessible\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ubgoe servers unexpectedly went down on April 15<\/a>, causing many creators and users to express their worry over the state of the platform, as its owners scramble to get the site back online (the website is still down at the time of writing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amidst the turmoil, the Shibuya Scramble Stories official X account released a new statement for their fans and backers, shedding light on the current status of the project, and confirming that the development has not been halted in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010\u91cd\u8981\uff1a\u652f\u63f4\u8005\u306e\u7686\u69d8\u3078\u3011\u2026<\/p>&mdash; Shibuya Scramble Stories (@shibuya_adv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shibuya_adv\/status\/2045427112186966510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 18, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the announcement, the developers reassured backers that the issue regarding the unpaid amount has not escalated to court action, and that it\u2019s being handled in accordance with legal procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned earlier, due to the website\u2019s terms of service stating that with every pledge, contracts are formed directly between the backer and the project owner, the team behind Shibuya Scramble Stories must fulfill all obligations towards the backers regardless of whether they had received the full amount of money or not. Taking this and the platform\u2019s current unavailability into consideration, the developers confirmed that the rewards are being sent out smoothly, and that all backers have been notified about it individually via a newly established newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, the developers explained that a second round of crowdfunding will be announced soon, and that they are currently in discussions with multiple parties on how to best realize the new campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, the team explained that development has not been interrupted in any way, and that \u201cBoth director Jiro Ishii and all the staff members absolutely promise to deliver the best possible version of Shibya Scramble Stories.\u201d While much of the details regarding the title will still be kept under the wraps due to the devs not wanting to spoil the experience just yet, the main cast of the game will be revealed on April 28, during the Shibuya Sakura Stage 4F 404 Not Found event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/youtuber-who-crowdfunded-320k-to-develop-dream-game-promises-to-respond-to-refund-requests-sincerely-amidst-standstill-but-wont-give-up-on-co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>YouTuber who\u00a0crowdfunded $320k\u00a0to\u00a0develop dream game\u00a0promises to \u201crespond to refund requests sincerely\u201d amidst standstill, but\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0give up on completing it\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-youtuber-revives-320k-crowdfunded-dream-game-after-complete-development-limbo-but-says-completing-it-will-require-10x-the-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Japanese YouTuber revives $320K crowdfunded dream game after complete development limbo, but says completing it will require \u201c10x the budget\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shibuya Scramble Stories developers make new update on the game&#8217;s progress amidst continuing issues with crowdfunding platform. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":65477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-65475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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