Key facts
- As of the reporting date, the Steam store page for GANG OF DRAGON remained accessible and still listed its release status as Coming soon.
- The dissolution left GANG OF DRAGON's future unclear, with neither NetEase nor Nagoshi confirming a formal cancellation or saying whether development assets could move to another team.
- Before the dissolution, Nagoshi Studio's website became inaccessible, its YouTube channel was deleted, its social media accounts stopped updating, and several key development team members left.
- The same reporting contrasted Nagoshi Studio with Grasshopper Manufacture, which had officially regained independence from NetEase after its 2021 acquisition.
Shareholders voted to wind up Nagoshi Studio on Oct. 31, 2026, and the dissolution notice appeared in Japan’s Kanpo gazette on Nov. 2, 2026, closing the Shinjuku, Tokyo developer founded by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi under NetEase Games.
KitGuru reported that Toshihiro Nagoshi left Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio after 30 years at Sega and founded the studio in November 2021. The Tokyo developer was formally announced by NetEase Games in January 2022, with Nagoshi as representative director and CEO, and presented as a wholly owned subsidiary meant to let his team make games they cared about. The plan focused on console titles for a worldwide audience. Its website launched in January 2022; the studio, fully funded by NetEase Games, planned high-quality AAA console titles for the global market.
Cite list: Gematsu, KitGuru, Techtroduce, toy-people.com, Power Up Gaming, 3Dm International
The studio unveiled Gang of Dragon, its first game, in December 2025 at The Game Awards. In it, Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, plays Shin Ji-seong, a senior member of a Korean crime syndicate in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district, with third-person combat that mixes fistfights, swords, guns and vehicle action. Cite list: Gematsu, AUTOMATON WEST, Techtroduce, toy-people.com, Power Up Gaming, 3Dm International
Steam’s page for Gang of Dragon remained accessible after the dissolution. No updated release plans or transfer arrangements accompanied the listing. Cite list: RPG Site, AUTOMATON WEST, Techtroduce, toy-people.com, Power Up Gaming, 3Dm International
Bloomberg reported in March 2026 that NetEase planned to end funding for the studio in May, and a spokesperson for NetEase confirmed the decision. The outlet said finishing the game would need at least another 7 billion yen, or about $44.4 million, beyond what had already been spent. Cite list: Gematsu, KitGuru, AUTOMATON WEST, Techtroduce, Power Up Gaming
Gematsu and Techtroduce reported that NetEase was willing to let the studio go independent, provided the studio covered the cost of keeping the game’s assets and intellectual property. Techtroduce reported that Nagoshi sought alternative backing for Gang of Dragon, but no successful funding agreement was disclosed before the dissolution. Cite list: Gematsu, Techtroduce
Automaton West reported that the studio’s social media accounts stopped updating a month before the March 2026 funding announcement, that its website became inaccessible in May, that its YouTube channel was deleted, and that several key development team members left. KitGuru reported that developers, including Toshihiro Nagoshi himself, stopped acknowledging Nagoshi Studio in interviews after March 2026. Techtroduce reported that industry accounts indicated by October 2026 that the studio had effectively stopped operating before its formal dissolution. Cite list: KitGuru, AUTOMATON WEST, Techtroduce, toy-people.com
Toy-people.com and 3Dm International reported that every director, including Toshihiro Nagoshi, left office on March 31, 2026. Minoru Morinaga took the director and representative director roles again on May 31, 2026, while Nagoshi and producer-director Daisuke Sato did not return, and provisions requiring a board of directors and a corporate auditor were abolished. 3Dm International reported that Morinaga was the only registered director as of May 31, 2026, and now handles the liquidation. Registration records still listed Nagoshi Studio as active as of Oct. 5, 2026, with the dissolution not yet registered, according to Game*Spark reporting cited by both outlets.
Cite list: toy-people.com, 3Dm International
Andy Robinson said on the VGC podcast on Oct. 6, 2026 that the studio was gone even though no closure had been announced, adding that Toshihiro Nagoshi had reportedly been applying at other studios. Robinson said “Nagoshi Studio, it’s not been announced, but that’s gone”. KitGuru contrasted the studio with Grasshopper Manufacture, which had won back independence from NetEase following its 2021 acquisition, and reported that NetEase has withdrawn somewhat from its many acquisitions. Cite list: KitGuru
Power Up Gaming reported that the notice appeared on page 176 in the Nov. 2, 2026 edition of Japan’s Official Gazette, Extra Edition No. 240. Toy-people.com and 3Dm International reported that the notice named Minoru Morinaga as representative liquidator and gave creditors two months from the day after publication to file claims, with late claims excluded from liquidation proceedings. After dissolution, the studio will organize its claims and debts and end its corporate status once liquidation registration is complete. A dissolved joint-stock company stays a legal entity until its liquidation finishes and its closure is registered.
Cite list: toy-people.com, Power Up Gaming, 3Dm International
Neither NetEase nor Toshihiro Nagoshi has confirmed a formal cancellation of Gang of Dragon, and neither has said whether the studio could move the game’s development assets elsewhere. No revised release plans or arrangements to continue development have been announced. The announcement did not say who would hold the game, also rendered as Dragon Gang, and rights holders have not confirmed whether the game will be transferred or canceled. Cite list: AUTOMATON WEST, Techtroduce, Power Up Gaming, 3Dm International
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