Summary
- Nagoshi Studio’s first game may face cuts due to budget constraints, as NetEase founder eyes cost-saving measures.
- The game may not receive additional funding for development, marketing, or promotion, jeopardizing its success.
- NetEase shifting focus to profitable games, leaving Nagoshi’s planned project unlikely to meet expectations.
Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi’s next game could be in jeopardy, as NetEase reportedly makes a series of budget cuts including at his self-founded Nagoshi Studio. Nagoshi famously walked away from the Yakuza series following the release of 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and his decision to join up with NetEase may be a costly one.
Nagoshi announced he was leaving Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio in October 2021, shortly after releasing his last title with the developer, the action-adventure game Lost Judgment, a standalone offshoot of the Yakuza main series. Nagoshi Studio was founded soon afterward, and while there’s still almost no information about it, the studio’s first game is planned to be a large-scale project.
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It may have to be scaled back to meet time and budget constraints. A new report released by Bloomberg indicates that NetEase founder William Ding is eyeing major budget cuts across the several development studios working under the publishing company. These money-saving measures have already resulted in the loss of several jobs, including layoffs within Marvel Rivals, as every member of that game’s Seattle-based development studio was let go earlier this week. That same report has bittersweet news for those anticipating the release of Nagoshi’s yet-to-be-named game. Nagoshi and his team will, according to unnamed sources in the report, be given time to wrap up their current project, although no additional funding or time for development is expected, nor is there any planned money in the budget for marketing or promotion of the game.
Nagoshi Studio’s First Game Faces Time and Budget Issues
While NetEase has spent years expanding its reach in the gaming industry, the report states that Ding is now pulling back to focus on more profitable, evergreen games like Eggy Party, a 2022 casual game available only on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices that saw its worldwide release in February 2024 and has seen particular success with children in mainland China. Reportedly, NetEase’s founder is now only interested in investing in games that are likely to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually, a task Nagoshi’s planned game is apparently unlikely to meet.
Meanwhile, the Yakuza franchise seems to be doing well since Nagoshi’s departure. Four titles have been launched since he ended his tenure at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, including the release of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii on February 21. The new action RPG is getting a lot of praise, with an 84 percent professional reviewer recommendation rate on OpenCritic, and positive early reviews from the few players who have already left a rating on Steam.
- Released
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February 21, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol