Yakuza series creators announce formation of Nagoshi Studio at NetEase Games

Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato have formally revealed their new studio at NetEase Games as Nagoshi Studio.

As his name is above the door, the former Yakuza series creator is taking the role of President and CEO.  Sato joins him as a Producer at the new team, but they’re not the only Yakuza series veterans on hand. In fact, all nine of the company’s founding staff appear to have had ties to the series at one point or another.

We’ve got both former art directors for both Yakuza and spinoff Judgment in Kazuki Hosokawa and Naoki Someya respectively. There’s also Judgment‘s lead character designer Toshiro Ando and Yakuza: Like A Dragon‘s main programmer Koji Tokieda too. Game designer Masao Shirosaki, engineer Mitsunori Fujimoto and director Taichi Ushioda round off the set.

Nagoshi offered his studio’s mission statement to fans on the company’s official website. “One of my goals at this studio is to create an open atmosphere. This may sound like an overly simplistic goal. But even the most talented creators cannot fully unleash their abilities in isolation. I believe that the first step to creating high-quality titles and delivering the essence of entertainment with strong motivation starts with creating an open atmosphere in the studio.”

“This means having open-ended discussions that ignore seniority and hierarchy. This means not fearing mistakes while also not being afraid to correct them, and treating failures as assets. This means not giving up on reaching the ideal, and fighting to get closer to it. This may seem so simple, but the simplest things can unexpectedly be the hardest to do, and at the same time the most important. Nagoshi Studio is committed to creating content for the world to enjoy from this atmosphere.”

There’s no word yet on a first game for Nagoshi Studio just yet, but we’ll keep our eyes open. Nagoshi and Sato announced their departure from Ryu Ga Gotoku back in October of last year, with those remaining at the Sega studio transitioning to a new structure as they work on the next Yakuza game.