It has recently come to our attention that our most recent print run of Higurashi When They Cry Hou + (USB Hardcopy) has been targeted in what appears to be a supply chain malware attack. We are still in the process of investigating situation and consulting legal counsel about our options, but immediately we advise that anyone who has purchased Higurashi When They Cry Hou + (USB Hardcopy) after 7/9/2025 7/3/2025* refrain from using the USB stick to install the game, as the Windows installers in this printing appears to have been compromised. Please note that the download editions of the game (available on MangaGamer.com, Steam, and GoG) have NOT been affected by this issue.
We estimate that approximately 64 67 copies of the affected batch have been sold. 16 of which were sold at conventions and 10 wholesaled to a third party vendor, with the remaining 38 41 sold directly on our store. We are already processing refunds for credit card purchases that we were able to trace. Orders made in combination with pre-order items which have not yet released will be shipped corrected copies of Higurashi When They Cry Hou + (USB Hardcopy) when the pre-order items are ready to ship. If you believe you purchased a compromised copy of Higurashi When They Cry Hou + (USB Hardcopy) at a convention or from a third party vendor, please e-mail support@mangagamer.com and include “Higurashi USB” in the subject line.
The compromised installers should be detected by Windows Defender and have a different file size than the original installers. For example, Chapter 1’s Original – 267.69MB vs Compromised – 268.42MB. [Updated 12/12/20205 for clarity that there are multiple installers present on the USB drive.]
If you did attempt to install the game from the compromised print run, here is what we know about the attack: We believe the malicious code to be the Floxif virus XRed Backdoor**. As far as we can tell, only the Windows installers appear to have been compromised. We recommend running a full system scan with Windows Defender or 3rd party anti-virus software like Malwarebytes if you think your system may have been exposed.
Based on our findings, it appears that only this particular run of this particular title has been affected, but out of an abundance of caution we will be temporarily halting the sale of all of our USB physical editions produced alongside or after the compromised Higurashi Hou+ printing while we run additional tests to ensure their safety. We would like to emphasize that despite reports of false positives from anti-virus software being a rather common occurrence with our titles in the past, this is the first, and to our knowledge, only time there has been a potentially legitimate attack on any of our products.
Additionally, current physical edition pre-orders will remain open; however, please be advised that release dates may be change as a result of this incident.
We will keep you all updated with any new information regarding this incident and on what steps we will be taking in the future when it becomes available.
*[Update 12/12/2025] – Upon further investigation, we believe it is possible that the compromised copies may have been present at our warehouse a few days prior to being formally logged into the system (potentially as early as 7/3/2025). Out of an abundance of caution, we have processed refunds for three additional orders which were made during this period and notified the relevant customers.
**[UPDATE 12/22/2025] – After additional analysis we believe to have conclusively identified the malware as the XRed Backdoor (additional information here). This is a type of trojan that can record keystrokes, steal data, and facilitate deployment of additional malicious software. We strongly recommend that if you used one of the infected installers, you take every precaution available to secure your system and network. Given the nature of this malicious software, we would strongly encourage you to change your passwords either from an unaffected device or after you have confidently removed the malware from your system. While we are not cybersecurity professionals, if you would like additional assistance if you believe your system may have been infected, our support team (support@mangagamer.com) has some more detailed instructions they can provide you with (to use at your own risk).
[UPDATE 12/23/2025] – We have an update regarding our investigation into the recently discovered compromised Higurashi USB hardcopies. Unfortunately, we have found that there is a small chance the recent Umineko USB reprint could have also been affected. Read more here.
[UPDATE 1/19/2026] – USB editions of euphoria have been put back on sale, our tests indicate it was not affected by this incident. Higurashi & Umineko USB editions will be put back on sale once replacement drives are manufactured and vetted to ensure their safety. The Rance 03 USB edition is currently proceeding on schedule, assuming the drives pass our integrity testing and no other issues arise, it should release on schedule.