Japan Developer Says Bank Blocked Overseas Steam Revenue Transfer Without Explaining Why

Japanese indie developer Nupuryu says Rakuten Bank refused to process an international payment from the overseas publisher of their game, Ruins Seeker, and declined to provide a reason for the rejection. The developer believes the issue is tied to the game’s adult content and says they will continue documenting what they describe as another case in Japan’s growing “debanking” problem affecting adult game creators.

According to the developer, the payment was related to the international Steam version of Ruins Seeker, which is published outside Japan by U.S.-based publisher Kagura Games. Despite providing documentation about the transaction, the bank ultimately rejected the transfer without disclosing why:

Rakuten Bank refused to let me receive a transfer from my overseas publisher… Hmm… it really does seem like Rakuten Bank’s policy is basically not to accept overseas transfers related to R18 games. This is what’s commonly referred to as the debanking issue, but there’s surprisingly little information available about it, so I’m going to share what I learn. I’ll also keep everyone updated on what the next steps are.

The developer later explained that they visited the bank and submitted supporting documents, including their publishing agreement, in an attempt to verify the legitimacy of the payment:

I received Rakuten Bank’s reply. Here’s the email informing me that the transfer has been rejected. The documents I submitted to Rakuten Bank included:

• My publishing contract with the publisher.

The contract clearly states the game title and the terms of the agreement. The game itself is sold on Steam by the publisher as an adult-oriented title.

The attached email from Rakuten Bank states:

Dear [Customer],

This is Rakuten Bank’s Overseas Remittance Monitoring Team. We have completed our review of your incoming international transfer and would like to inform you of the results. After reviewing the transaction, we have determined that we are unable to accept this overseas remittance. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we will proceed with returning the funds to the sender. We are unable to disclose the specific reason why we cannot accept this transfer. Thank you for your understanding.

Please note that because the refund process may involve multiple intermediary banks, it could take some time before the funds are returned to the sender. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Rakuten Bank – Overseas Remittance Monitoring Team

Because the bank declined to explain the reason for the rejection, Nupuryu says they have little information to work with in attempting to resolve the issue. The developer suspects the transfer was rejected because it originated from overseas sales of an adult game, although the bank itself did not confirm this.

The incident is the latest in a growing series of similar reports from Japanese adult game developers. Earlier this year, developer Mousou no Mayu said a bank rejected revenue from the all-ages Steam version of their game after reviewing its content, while developer Ren reported that overseas payments for their adult games had been halted despite providing documentation that their business complied with the law. Those cases involved different banks, suggesting the issue is not limited to a single financial institution.

The controversy comes amid broader scrutiny of financial restrictions affecting adult content creators in Japan. Over the past two years, developers and publishers have faced increasing challenges involving payment processors, storefront policies, and banking services, with many creators arguing that legal businesses are being denied access to financial services without clear explanations.