Japanese Indie Dev Skeleton Crew Studio Sues Funding Platform Ubgoe for Missing Funds
According to reports made a few days ago, Japanese indie developer Skeleton Crew Studio is seeking legal action against the Japanese crowdfunding platform Ubgoe, after the small indie studio used the platform to launch a crowdfunding campaign, which evidently raised over 55 million yen, or $340,000. Skeleton Crew Studio launched the crowdfunding campaign for its most popular and successful game, 428: Shibuya Scramble Stories.
The original game was released in 2008 on the Nintendo Wii and was remade and ported to Steam 10 years later. In that span of time, the game gained a huge cult following, which prompted Skeleton Crew Studio executive producer Jiro Ishii to launch the campaign. Here are all the details we know so far about the ongoing legal pursuit and Ubgoe’s response to the situation.
428: Shibuya Scramble Stories
428: Shibuya Scramble Stories is a visual novel game that is incredibly story-heavy. It’s a cinematic gaming experience where your choices matter and can have serious consequences for other main characters. Players can switch between the perspectives of 5 different characters and follow a comprehensive flowchart to navigate different choices and avoid bad endings.
After the game was released on Steam in 2018, it garnered very positive reviews from hundreds of users. It rose to critical acclaim for its unique visual representation using over 1,000 different photo stills instead of art or animation, and the incredible narrative of the game. The popularity and cult following the game gained was the main reason as to why Ishii launched the campaign.
Executive Producer Jiro Ishii Seeks Legal Action
The campaign saw immediate success, blowing past the campaign goal of 5 million yen, or $31,000. After using Ubgoe to raise the money, the payment was supposed to be wired transferred to a specific account, which Skeleton Crew Studio states that they only recieved about half of the campaign funds after a year from when the campaign started. Ishii states that Ubgoe was due to transfer the full amount last September, and when Ishii inquired about the missed payment, this is how Ubgoe responded.
Ubgoe CEO Kazuo Okada told Ishii that the money was “mistakenly wired to a different client”, also claiming that it was impossible to reverse the transaction. It’s also noted that Ubgoe’s terms and conditions state that project owners are responsible for fulfilling all obligations (such as rewards and the project’s completion) regardless of whether they have actually received the money or not. This not only doesn’t protect project owners like Ishii from fraudulent activity, but it also relieves Ubgoe of any liability should anything happen, which is a terrifying notion, given that they are a platform that handles money.
Skeleton Crew Studio shared the news on their official X account, also stating that they would be seeking legal action against Ubgoe.
Report on the Delay in Payment of Over 27 Million Yen from the Crowdfunding Site “Ubgoe” and Our Determination
“Shibuya Scramble Stories” was announced on April 28, 2025, as a “Shibuya Live-Action Adventure Project,” and support solicitation began on the crowdfunding site “Ubgoe” starting May 28, 2025. As a result, we received support far exceeding our expectations: 1,095% of the target amount of 5 million yen, totaling 54,754,878 yen. We take this opportunity to once again express our heartfelt gratitude. Today, we would like to provide an important update regarding that precious crowdfunding effort.
■ About the Current Situation Currently, a delay in payment is occurring on the “Ubgoe” platform, and out of the support funds entrusted to us by everyone, 27.75 million yen has not yet reached the project team. In the realm of crowdfunding initiatives, it is unprecedented for a platform to fail to make payments to the project owner, and we feel profound regret about this. This situation weighs heavily on us and fills us with frustration. To protect everyone’s sentiments, we have already begun consultations with a lawyer and are moving forward with responses, including legal measures. We will continue to address this with an uncompromising stance to recover everyone’s precious support funds as quickly as possible.
■ About Rewards This issue will not cause any disadvantage to our supporters. Rewards involving shipping, such as goods, have already been delivered. Additionally, for rewards planned for the future, such as in-game implementations, we will continue development and production regardless of the payment status and ensure they are realized without fail.
■ About the Project’s Future While financial impacts are unavoidable, the project will not stop. There may be some adjustments to the schedule, but the production team’s passion will never waver. On the contrary, we are using this adversity as fuel, with the resolve to deliver a work that exceeds everyone’s expectations, and we are continuing development.
■ To Our Supporters The support funds entrusted to us by everyone are not merely numbers. They represent “expectations” for this story and embody “trust” itself. We understand that weight more than anyone. We, the production team, deeply apologize from the bottom of our hearts for the great concern this matter has caused.
However, we will never give up until the day we can rightfully receive everyone’s sentiments. We will continue to face this situation responsibly to the very end. We would be grateful if you could continue to watch over our journey.
And someday, we will surely deliver a work that makes you truly feel, “I’m glad I supported this.”
New Developments
After announcing their legal pursuit, Skeleton Crew Studio has recieved support from Tokyu Land Corporation, a real estate development investor, ensuring the indie dev company that the project will be completed regardless of the ongoing legal case. The case is still ongoing, with investigations taking place to see how candid Ubgoe is about the missing funds, and I’ll be updating the situation as the story develops.
