Umamusume: Pretty Derby fans in the U.S. were expected to attend their first home concert this week as part of the game’s musical world tour. Instead, a problem with visa approvals in the Trump administration forced the last-minute cancelation of the anime horse-girl event. Distraught fans have been met with an unusually gracious refund policy from gacha game maker Cygames, which is trying to make it up to them.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a game in which players bet on races, but instead of horses running, it’s anime girls. The game has been a huge success, and a passionate fanbase has grown around it since its 2025 release. Having won mobile GOTY at last year’s Game Awards, this fall’s concert tour was meant to be a victory lap for fans to celebrate over 12 months of sports anime life-sim gambling. But Cygames announced at the last minute that it was unable to obtain all of the paperwork necessary for its performers to enter L.A. for the concert series this week.
“Thank you so very much for trying, it’s heart-breaking but we know you tried until the very end,” one fan wrote on X. “This is not the America I wanted to live in,” another wrote. Some blamed the Trump administration. Others blamed poor planning. “Cygames waited until the last minute to obtain visas for the talents and didn’t pay to expedite them,” another Umamusume stan wrote. “This sucks, but you are supposed to settle visa paperwork BEFORE an event. Cygames dropped the ball here.”
Cygames had always planned to refund people for their tickets to the canceled concert, but overnight the company added that it would also refund flights and accommodations for anyone traveling to L.A. specifically for the event. “For trainers who canceled their travel and lodging reservations due to the concert’s cancellation, we will reimburse the cancellation fees incurred,” the company announced on October 21. “For trainers who have already traveled to Los Angeles, we will reimburse travel expenses and lodging expenses incurred during the target period that meet the requirements for reimbursement.”
The concert tour’s next stop is London, though dates are still to be determined. Maybe fans can use the refunds to plan a trip to the UK.
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