Gang of Dragon has been surrounded by increasingly grim signs for months, and now Nagoshi Studio itself may have reached the end of the road. There is still no official confirmation from Toshihiro Nagoshi or NetEase, but the latest preview from Famitsu no longer links the developer to his own studio, which is a telling detail in the Japanese games industry.
The story of Nagoshi Studio may end up becoming one of the more uncomfortable industry failures of recent years. Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Yakuza and Like a Dragon series, left SEGA in late 2021 and later founded his own studio with support from NetEase. For a while, it looked as though this could lead to a major Japanese crime-action game that would carry forward the experience of his earlier work with more freedom and a new corporate backing. Revealed at The Game Awards 2025, Gang of Dragon promised exactly that: an open world, driving mechanics, a more serious tone, and Don Lee in a project clearly built around Nagoshi’s Yakuza legacy.
The problems became publicly visible this February. According to Bloomberg sources, the studio requested an additional $44.4 million from NetEase to finish the game, on top of the money that had already been invested. The Chinese publisher and financier reportedly did not take that request well, and its support was set to end in May 2026, leaving Nagoshi Studio in an extremely uncertain position. Since then, no clear rescue has been announced, while increasingly worrying signs have appeared around both the game and the studio, including disruptions to its official online presence and Google information suggesting a permanently closed status.
Famitsu Suggests Nagoshi Studio May Already Be a Thing of the Past
The latest, and perhaps most revealing, sign comes from a preview of the next issue of Weekly Famitsu. The Japanese magazine is preparing a series of interviews with industry figures for its 40th anniversary, including Toshihiro Nagoshi, but the description no longer lists him as being connected to Nagoshi Studio. While other major names remain clearly tied to their companies or franchises, Nagoshi is simply described as a “video game creator,” with the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series highlighted as his main work.
That is not an official announcement by itself, but with Famitsu, it is hard to dismiss as a random oversight. The Japanese industry magazine rarely makes such basic mistakes as omitting the current studio of a major interview subject, especially when that figure is someone as important as Nagoshi. Since neither he nor NetEase has clearly addressed the future of the studio or Gang of Dragon, this preview now stands as one of the strongest indications that Nagoshi Studio may no longer be operating as expected.
The whole story has taken a particularly bitter turn. Only a few months ago, Gang of Dragon looked like Nagoshi’s big return, a project that could have pushed the Yakuza foundations into a broader, more modern open-world direction. Now, even without an official denial or confirmation, it increasingly looks as though the fate of both the project and the studio behind it may already be sealed. If Famitsu really left out Nagoshi Studio for a reason, then one of Japan’s most respected games magazines may have effectively said what the studio and NetEase still have not: the story of Gang of Dragon may be over before it ever truly began.
Source: 3DJuegos
