Recently, Japanese indie developer Nupuryu no sato spoke about a problem with receiving payments for the sale of his game. Several years ago, Ruins Seeker was released on DLsite, and subsequently appeared on PC on Steam with the support of publisher Kagura Games.
The game attracted a certain audience and received “very positive” reviews from players, but the developer was unable to receive a transfer from Kagura Games — the transaction was blocked by Rakuten Bank.
Nupuryu no sato shared:
I was denied a transfer from an overseas publisher through Rakuten Bank...It seems that Rakuten Bank generally has such a policy — they probably do not accept overseas transfers related to R18 (adult) games. This is the so-called debanking problem [...]
After the refusal, the developer tried to personally contact the bank and provided a copy of the contract with the publisher. The document outlined the terms of the agreement and indicated the name of the game. However, after reviewing the application, Rakuten Bank notified Nupuryu no sato of the refusal.
Rakuten Bank did not provide any details of the refusal. The developer believes that this is due to the fact that Ruins Seeker is an adult game. Creators of other similar projects also face problems when trying to receive money.