Suda51 and Yakuza creator discuss benefits of NetEase acquisition

NetEase has been a big name in the mobile gaming space for a while now, but in recent years the company has pushed into the console gaming space. Two of its biggest moves saw NetEase acquire Suda51’s Studio Grasshopper Manufacture alongside partnering with Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi for the opening of a new studio, following his departure from SEGA. Now, both creators have spoken on the many benefits afforded to them by these acquisitions.

In a lengthy interview conducted by VGC, Suda51 of No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw fame discussed how NetEase has given him and his team the freedom needed to thrive, saying “Thanks to the support and backup we now get from NetEase, not only do we have a bigger studio and more people, the environment itself has become much easier to work in, it's become a lot easier to express my creativity and put more energy into being creative in general.”

Adding to this, Suda51 continued, “I mean, we do have a schedule and a budget and everything, but it's not like anyone's saying, ‘OK, the game has to be out on this day'. There's nobody [at NetEase] who thinks that if you get a game out as soon as possible, it's going to be good – they understand that's not how it works. They give top priority to creativity and quality, so it's great that we're able to have the freedom of time and schedule to really put the work into the games that we need to put into them, and they're really understanding about that.”

Toshihiro Nagoshi – known for Yakuza (Like a Dragon) and Super Monkey Ball – mirrored these sentiments, saying “The general environment [in this country] means it's hard to try new things in Japan, but NetEase is very ambitious and wants to expand its business by succeeding worldwide and including the console game category, which aligns with our ambition.”

The full interview can be found HERE and includes many more anecdotes regarding how working for NetEase has been good for the creators. All-in-all it seems as though both creators are so far happy with their choices and so hopefully their current in-development titles end up being their best yet. We will have to wait and see.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of both creators? Are you excited to see what they are working on? Are the creators’ best days still ahead of them? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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