Toshihiro Nagoshi's Gang of Dragon Faces Uncertainty as NetEase Pulls Back Funding
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Nagoshi Studio's upcoming action game Gang of Dragon is facing an uncertain future as publisher NetEase plans to pull its funding in May, leaving the team searching for a new backer.
The ambitious new action adventure project from legendary game creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is facing a major roadblock. Bloomberg reports that Chinese publisher NetEase plans to cut off financial backing for Nagoshi Studio this May. The decision comes after the studio informed the publisher that completing Gang of Dragon would require an additional 7 billion yen, which translates to roughly $44 million. As of now, the development team has reportedly not secured a replacement backer, leaving the future of the project in serious doubt. Originally revealed to the public at The Game Awards just a few months ago, Gang of Dragon stars actor Ma Dong-seok in a gritty underworld crime story set in Kabukicho.
For those who followed Nagoshi's decades long career at Sega, where he helped shape iconic franchises like Daytona USA, Super Monkey Ball, and the Yakuza series, the formation of Nagoshi Studio in 2022 was a major industry moment. Partnering with NetEase allowed the veteran developer to build a new independent team, leading to the late 2025 reveal of Gang of Dragon. The title leans heavily into the cinematic crime drama territory that fans associate with Nagoshi, while promising amped up physical combat and vehicle action. NetEase has not yet commented publicly on the funding cuts, but the publisher has increasingly pulled back from several international studio partnerships in recent years.
This funding withdrawal is part of a broader pattern of restructuring at NetEase, which has recently scaled back operations or divested from multiple Western and Japanese studios outside of China. Developers such as Worlds Untold, Jar of Sparks, and Ouka Studio have all faced similar shifts in publisher strategy. For players and community members tracking high profile single player projects, situations like this highlight the ongoing volatility of traditional publisher backed development. While Nagoshi Studio searches for a viable path forward, the Steam page for Gang of Dragon still lists the game as coming soon without a firm release date. You can read the original reporting over at Polygon.
Tags: Gaming News, NetEase, Nagoshi Studio, Gang of Dragon, Industry Trends
Original article: Polygon