Japanese indie developer ENDLESS SUMMER Studio is taking a very serious step after months of chasing crowdfunding money for its upcoming sci-fi bishojo visual novel, Purgatory: Blue.
The studio, also known as Neon Light LLC, announced on April 24 that it is moving forward with criminal charges against the CEO of Japanese crowdfunding platform Ubgoe. The allegation is embezzlement, tied to funds that were supposed to go into the development of Purgatory: Blue.
For context, Purgatory: Blue was crowdfunded on Ubgoe from July to September 2025. The campaign pulled in more than 10.93 million yen, around US$68,400 — roughly RM300k depending on exchange rate — from 485 backers. That was 156% of the project’s original goal, which sounds like a solid win for a niche visual novel project.
But according to ENDLESS SUMMER Studio, the money never arrived.
The developer says the payout was originally due in November 2025. After missing that date, Ubgoe allegedly promised a transfer by December 15, then missed that too. The studio later obtained a written repayment pledge from Ubgoe CEO Kazuo Okada, with payment supposedly coming by December 26. Again, no payment. In February 2026, Ubgoe reportedly said it would pay within that month, but ENDLESS SUMMER Studio says it still has not received any of the funds.
That is brutal for any indie team, but especially for visual novel developers where budgets often go directly into art, voice work, writing, music, UI, localisation, and production management. For Malaysian and SEA fans who regularly back Japanese indie games, doujin projects, VN campaigns, or anime-adjacent merch, this is exactly the kind of case that makes people nervous about where their support actually goes.
Ubgoe itself has been around since January 2021 and was promoted as a creator-friendly platform because it charged project creators zero fees, with backers paying a small usage fee instead. On paper, that sounds macam best for indie devs. In practice, the platform now appears to be in serious trouble.
Automaton Media also reported that game creator Jiro Ishii recently said Ubgoe had withheld more than half of the money raised for his own project, Shibuya Scramble Stories. On top of that, Ubgoe’s website became inaccessible on the night of April 15. The company issued a short statement saying it was working to restore its servers, but the site remained down at the time of Automaton’s report.
ENDLESS SUMMER Studio has already hired a lawyer and filed a criminal complaint with the Shibuya Police Station in February. According to the developer, the police division handling white-collar crimes has begun inquiries into Okada’s bank accounts. The studio may also consider a civil lawsuit depending on how the situation develops.
The most important part for fans: Purgatory: Blue is not cancelled. Creator cittan*, also known as composer and music producer Fumihisa Tanaka, has told backers that he still intends to finish the game. Even without the campaign funds, he says he feels responsible for bringing the project to completion and is preparing ways to continue production using personal money and other fundraising efforts.
For SEA fans, the takeaway is simple: crowdfunding can still help niche Japanese games exist, but platform trust matters a lot. Backing a cool VN is one thing. Making sure the money actually reaches the creators? That is the part everyone will be watching more closely after this.
Source: Automaton Media