NetEase has decided to end its financial support for Nagoshi Studio, the studio founded by the creator of Yakuza, Toshihiro Nagoshi. The news, reported by Bloomberg, comes just a few months after the reveal of its first project, Gang of Dragon. The studio now needs to find a new sponsor to complete development, with an estimated additional 44.4 million dollars required.
The impact of funding withdrawal on development and intellectual property 🧐
According to the reported terms, NetEase will allow the studio to continue working, but will retain the project assets. This means Nagoshi Studio would have to buy the intellectual property of Gang of Dragon to keep it. This situation illustrates a risk of development dependent on a single external investor, where the technical infrastructure and creative rights can become separated if the partnership breaks.
The dragon ran out of breath (financial) 🐉
It seems the only heat action blow Nagoshi didn't anticipate was corporate divestment. Perhaps the game's title was an unwitting premonition: in the end, the dragon to tame is the one of budgets and financing deals. At least, with an almost empty Steam page, fans won't waste much time updating a wishlist that might go up in smoke.