Company had announced its 1st game Gang of Dragon in December
Image via Nagoshi Studios’ website
© Nagoshi Studio Inc.
Bloomberg reported on Saturday that a NetEase spokesperson confirmed it will stop financing Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi’s new studio Nagoshi Studio Inc. starting in May.
Bloomberg stated according to its own sources, employees of Nagoshi Studio Inc. were told of the decision on Friday.
NetEase Games had announced the formation of Nagoshi Studio Inc. in January 2022. The studio announced its first game Gang of Dragon during The Game Awards last December.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, NetEase decided to stop funding the studio after it discovered the game would need additional funding of 7 billion yen (about US$44 million) to be completed. Bloomberg stated Nagoshi is trying to find new sponsors for the game, but has not had success so far. Nagoshi Studio is in discussions with NetEase about how to handle the already developed game materials.
Nagoshi stepped down from his role as chief creative officer of Sega in April 2021, but continued at the company as creative director. Nagoshi then left Sega in October 2021. He had been working for Sega since 1989.
In September 2024 Bloomberg reported that NetEase had laid off most of the staff at Ouka Studios (Visions of Mana) in Tokyo and intended to shut down the studio’s offices in Shibuya (the studio closed in late 2024). NetEase had hired former staff from companies such as CAPCOM, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix when establishing console-focused teams at Ouka in Shibuya in 2020. Visions of Mana developer Ryosuke Yoshida then joined Square Enix in December 2024.
Source: Bloomberg (Takashi Mochizuki, Zheping Huang)
