What the business is
Video game development studio in Tokyo, founded by the creator of the Yakuza series.
How it started
Toshihiro Nagoshi was chief creative officer at Sega and general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the team behind the Yakuza series. He announced his departure in October 2021, and in January 2022 founded Nagoshi Studio, headquartered in Tokyo and wholly funded by Chinese internet and gaming company NetEase.
What happened
The studio hired several long-time Sega colleagues: producer Daisuke Sato, artists Kazuki Hosokawa and Naoki Someya, programmer Koji Tokieda, designer Masao Shirosaki, engineer Mitsunori Fujimoto, and directors Taichi Ushioda and Toshihiro Ando. In a Famitsu interview Nagoshi said independence lets the team develop games without considering Sega's wider business plan and budget, and that NetEase is serious about prioritising creative freedom.
What has to be true
Nagoshi felt like doing something different after decades inside Sega's structure.
He wanted Yakuza-craft games with appeal outside Japan, which Sega's wider business plan and budget did not serve.
NetEase was buying global credibility and proven creative talent for its gaming expansion, and offered creative freedom Sega could not.
What can be applied
Star creators trade security for independence when a deep-pocketed backer buys them creative freedom; the pitch to talent and press is freedom, not money.
Aftermath
As of the January 24, 2022 announcement the studio was newly founded and staffing up with ex-Sega developers; no games had been announced. At Sega, Masayoshi Yokoyama was leading Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and working on the next Yakuza game.
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