Nagoshi Studio Officially Closes: Farewell to Gang of Dragon

Nagoshi Studio was founded in 2022 by Toshihiro Nagoshi, a Japanese game designer known for creating the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise. Financially supported by the Chinese company NetEase, the Studio unveiled what was supposed to be its debut work at the last Game Awards: Gang of Dragon, a title that in some ways closely resembles Yakuza, but with a darker setting and a protagonist played by Don Lee.

After a few months, unfortunately, it became clear that the project would hardly see the light of day: NetEase had in fact cut funding, deeming Nagoshi's requests excessive. The father of Yakuza was thus left with little to do but hope for the remote possibility of finding another publisher willing to bear such a financial burden. By June, when news began to leak about the departure of staff members, the fate of Gang of Dragon seemed definitively sealed.

The End of Nagoshi Studio

As reported by the Japanese website 4Gamer, today the official announcement of the closure of Nagoshi Studio was made, which was deliberated on October 31st. The end of the software house led by Toshihiro Nagoshi has thus received official confirmation; as for Gang of Dragon, the intellectual property remains in the hands of NetEase, but it seems highly unlikely that it will be resurrected in the future to become a game.