Nagoshi Studio will be funded by NetEase with Daisuke Sato and other ex-Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio staff serving as its core management.
A new gaming competitor enters the fray as the Chinese internet and gaming company, NetEase, is proud to announce they will be backing the new game development studio, Nagoshi Studio. The studio is in Shibuya, Tokyo. The president and CEO will be the Yakuza video game series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.
Nagoshi previously worked at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and SEGA, who headed both the Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball games series. However, it was announced back in October 2021 that him and his close compatriot, Daisuke Sato, would be exiting the studio and big game publishers to open their own studio. This is the roughly translated message from Nagoshi on the new studio’s website, which explains the whole transition:
“The changes in the environment surrounding the entertainment world, which began in the latter half of the 20th century, have undergone even greater changes in the 21st century. The content, the method of making, and the business model are all continuing to undergo a paradigm shift through changes in technology and infrastructure, and are still changing at an accelerating pace. It’s cool until just before! What was said to have become an old-fashioned relic in no time. From the creator’s point of view, it’s a very difficult time. But I don’t think the essence of entertainment has changed, no matter how the times change.
People dream of entertainment. We also seek various opportunities for entertainment, such as hope for life, healing during hard times, and a means to make fun times even more exciting. The desire itself should be the same as it used to be. Of course, there are differences in the way of enjoying, volume, and sense of speed that are unique to the past, but the essence is still the same. And in order to fulfill its essence, it can only be achieved by steadily approaching the ideal shape while facing the work to be made and all the creators purely and seriously.
My goal is to make this studio an airy place. It may sound too simple as a goal, doesn’t it? But no matter how good a creator, loneliness cannot show full power. We believe that the first step in creating quality work and fulfilling the essence of entertainment with high motivation begins with an open environment.
Talk with all your words regardless of your position. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but correct them obediently and make mistakes a fortune. And do not abandon the ideal, but stick to it. It seems natural, and that is surprisingly difficult, and at the same time the most important thing. This is a studio that seriously aims for content for the world from such an environment.”
The studio is mainly comprised of SEGA veterans who worked on the same games as Nagoshi, along with the Judgment game series. Currently, there are nine members that make up Nagoshi Studio with the creator himself, bringing many years of experience:
Daisuke Sato — Producer
Kazuki Hosokawa — Artist
Koji Tokieda — Programmer
Masao Shirosaki — Game Designer
Mitsunori Fujimoto — Engineer
Naoki Someya — Artist
Taichi Ushioda — Director
Toshihiro Ando — Artist
There have not been any statements regarding what the studio’s first game will be, but Nagoshi confirmed in an interview with Famitsu that their games will still be centred around Japan like the Yakuza and Judgment games. Nagoshi explained, “…We’ve been desperately trying to find a methodology that would allow us to create something that would be accepted around the world while keeping our focus on Japan…In order to find the answer, to pursue the ideal, I created Nagoshi Studio. However, the focus will remain on Japan in the future.”
While we do not know what their first game will be as yet, we can expect it to be one that will be out to look for as this appears to be Nagoshi and the team’s big passion project. Nagoshi Studio plans to provide updates on their website once they are ready to announce their future plans but are currently still at the drawing board stage.
