Behind the
gleaming façade of anime-based mobile video games sometimes lurk corporate
horror stories. Software developer OGIX, led by its CEO Yusuke Ogiso, brought
to light a serious accusation against the company Poppin Games, pointing out
that the company owes them almost $1.3 million (about 200 million yen) in
outsourcing fees related to four games as a service, a situation that dragged
his studio into bankruptcy and led to the dismissal of 70 employees.
Between
November 2023 and April 2025, Poppin Games commissioned OGIX to develop and
maintain four mobile titles based on big-name franchises, including adaptations
of Mashle: Magic and Muscles and Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
(Roshidere). Although the company covered the initial development costs, Ogiso
assures that they never paid the server expenses, the monthly operation or the
agreed distribution of profits. The worst part of the case is that Poppin Games
continues to collect the money generated by deliveries while OGIX accumulates
massive debts.
The tension
reached such a critical point that Poppin Games' legal representation even
admitted that they had the funds to pay off the debt, but that they preferred
to invest that capital in other projects rather than pay what they owed. Trying
to salvage some of its revenue, OGIX kept the servers running at minimal costs,
going so far as to pause updates briefly to demand answers. Despite signing a
payment plan and receiving promises of regularization, the money never arrived.
Ogiso financed the salaries of its workers with its own savings until it ran
out of funds, even losing the economic capacity to sustain the current legal
litigation.
The scandal
began to gain strength when Poppin Games announced an alliance with CyberStep
to develop new projects. In the face of Ogiso's public outcry and exposure of
the facts, CyberStep immediately canceled the deal after learning of the
irregularities. Meanwhile, Poppin Games performed smoothly at massive events
such as the Tokyo Game Show 2026, keeping the games going and without
responding to the families who were left without income.
Poppin
Games is a Japanese
developer and distributor of mobile games, known for acquiring licenses for
popular anime series to bring them to digital format. For its part, OGIX
is a Tokyo-based programming and development studio that was responsible for
the technical infrastructure and operational maintenance of titles as a service
in the Asian market.
