Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi’s new game is now in doubt after investor NetEase warned the studio that it plans to cut off funding.
Gang of Dragon was meant to be the debut game from Nagoshi Studio, the developer formed by Nagoshi in 2022 under NetEase after he departed Ryu Ga Gotoku a year earlier. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks an awful lot like Yakuza.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese megacorp NetEase told Nagoshi Studio employees that it will stop financing the studio from May, which in turn will likely mean Nagoshi’s studio will have to shut down. NetEase is currently in the process of cutting its video game investments, which have already led to studio closures and layoffs.
