Today Hatoful Boyfriend creator Hato Moa took to X (formerly Twitter) to mention that she has not received any royalties for the sales of the game since the acquisition of Mediatonic by Epic Games in 2021.
The artist, mangaka, and writer added that she had not received any communication from the publisher despite the fact that the contract was transferred to them.
btw I’ve got no royalty payment for Hatoful Boyfriend from Epic since they acquired Mediatonic back in spring 2021. I don’t think the sales have been zero for two years?
The obligations were transferred to Epic, but they’ve never sent any replies to me. Do you have any ideas to make contact with the right person?
More details were provided in further posts:
Originally, the distribution rights and royalty payments for "Heartful Boyfriend" belonged to Mediatonic, but they were acquired by Epic Games following the success of Fall Guys, so the rights were transferred to them. It's been nearly two years since then, but I haven't received a single payment from Epic, and I can't get in touch with the accounting staff.
It's not an urgent matter of life and death, but it was Epic Games' own convenience that abruptly ended the distribution of the PlayStation Store and smartphone version, but they haven't sent us a single report even though they received the distribution rights. What does that mean? That was the story.
Epic Games actually answered on X, promising to investigate and contact Hato Moa directly.
We are looking into this and the team will be reaching out to you directly.
We reached out to Epic for further comment, and a spokesperson answered that they don't have anything to share beyond what has been said on X, for now.
Hato Moa also expressed her appreciation and solidarity for the staff at Mediatonic, who have reportedly been hit very hard by the recent layoffs at Epic Games.
As a side note, everyone at Mediatonic was very polite and kind, from development to accounting. It's really sad that such wonderful people are being cut off by this week's mass layoffs at Epic Games. Since we are buying the entire development studio, please take responsibility...
If you're curious about Hatfoful Boyfriend, which is still available for PC, you can read our review, defining it as "a great dark story for a take on the classic dating sim."
