The official X account of Japanese crowdfunding platform Ubgoe – which has gained notoriety as “that platform that owes money to the Shibuya Scramble Stories development team” – has recently posted after a silence of over two months. The update reveals that the company is currently in the process of moving its servers and physical headquarters.
Established in 2021 by Ubgoe Inc., Ubgoe is a crowdfunding platform that offered a “zero-listing-fee model” for creators, instead relying on handling fees paid by backers.
In April this year, the platform’s website (https://ubgoe.com/) became unreachable without prior notice, raising concerns among users. Ubgoe’s official X account explained at the time that its servers had failed, which also disabled email communications. The company stated restoration efforts were underway and provided a Gmail address for urgent inquiries. Since then, the website has stayed offline, and no further updates had been issued until today.
In the interim, the platform faced criticism over reports of unpaid crowdfunding proceeds. The most significant case involves the campaign for Shibuya Scramble Stories, a new project by game designer Jiro Ishii. Around the end of March, Ishii disclosed that about half of the roughly $340 thousand USD raised for the game had not been delivered to the development team, with attempts to recover the funds from Ubgoe unsuccessful.
Other Japanese projects funded through Ubgoe reported similar problems. One instance is the bishojo visual novel Purgatory: Blue, developed by ENDLESS SUMMER Studio (Neonlight LLC), whose team claims none of the approximately $69 thousand raised through its crowdfunding campaign has actually arrived. Both projects have confirmed that development will continue despite the challenges.
The Ubgoe situation has impacted projects in other industries as well. On June 19, it was reported that a crowdfunding campaign organized by Japan’s Yamagata Railway to support the continued operation of its rail line had not received part of the approximately $49 thousand raised. According to local media reports, Yamagata Railway has been in touch with Ubgoe and is continuing discussions with the company.
Meanwhile, Nagaragawa Railway in Gifu Prefecture, which raised about $15 thousand through a crowdfunding campaign, told reporters that Ubgoe’s representative contacted the organization on June 15 and said monthly incremental payments of 500,000 yen (around $3k USD) would begin at the end of June.
Against this backdrop, Ubgoe’s statement that its address and servers are being relocated marks its first public communication since the controversy began. It remains uncertain whether the company will address other affected campaign organizers and how it plans to resolve the outstanding payment issues.
Separately, cittan*, head of the aforementioned ENDLESS SUMMER Studio, reported via a blog post in May that they’d filed criminal complaints with the Shibuya Police Station against Ubgoe Inc. and its president Kazuo Okada. Nagaragawa Railway has also stated in media interviews that it is consulting with police and considering legal action, so hopefully the dispute is moving towards resolution.