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The story
A dissolution notice for “Nagoshi Studio,” founded by Toshihiro Nagoshi, appeared in Japan’s Official Gazette dated November 2, 2026. Nagoshi, known for Sega’s Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) series, launched the studio after leaving Sega with funding from China’s NetEase, but it shut down without ever releasing a single game. On 5ch’s hardware/industry (Geha) board, discussion centered on comparisons to Hideo Kojima — who also left Sega and went on to work with Sony and Microsoft — as well as the fact that other NetEase-funded Japanese studios (Ouka Studio, GPTRACK50) have likewise shut down one after another.
Dissolution notice published in today’s Official Gazette
Source: kanpo.go.jp / Original article here
What people said
Not much different from Naru-nii (a YouTuber infamous for sketchy business schemes).
What are the guys who left Sega along with him doing now?
got turned around by rapid-fire mass production using the know-how from Shenmue
— up to that point, it was fine.
Loose lips sink ships.
Pour in that much money and get one trailer after several years, and of course nobody's going to care anymore.
but I guess they didn't need him since they'd already locked down the original Yakuza studio.
They released absolutely nothing.
meaning Nintendo scoops it up.
That only worked for Bayonetta because developer PlatinumGames was still around.
With Nagoshi Studio gone there's nobody left to actually build it, so no one's taking that on.
No way anyone's handing over another 7 billion yen top-up.
Nintendo buys teams, not software.
Since the team's already scattered, nothing's getting released.
• Ouka Studio (shut down after Seiken Densetsu: Visions of Mana flopped hard)
• GPTRACK50 (couldn't even crack the weekly top 30, now awaiting closure)
• Nagoshi Studio (shut down without releasing a single game)
They did hit it big with that Marvel game they're running, so here's hoping they don't give up on the rest and keep funding them (not my problem, but still).
Every one of them failed while tied to the PS5 (and knowing Nagoshi, it was probably PS5-focused anyway).
So what was that whole "Yakuza Studio is finished lol" thing about?
Guess they weren't actually talented after all.
Maybe there's a slim chance Nintendo lets him take a real crack at F-Zero with a proper budget and timeline.
Honestly, what he did should've gotten him blacklisted, just like old Square used to do to people…
Nagoshi alone doesn't mean much without a dev team behind him.
Back in the F-Zero GX days it worked because Amusement Vision, Sega's spun-off subsidiary, had veteran, capable people in it.
Nago-san was more of a hardcore gamer himself back then, too.
Whether capable people would actually gather under today's Nago-san is another question entirely…
It'll be tough unless there's a condition like "don't release it on the PS5, where there's no audience anyway."
Shikujiri Sensei needs an "and here's how I turned it around" ending — this guy just failed and stayed failed.
He's even worse than that Square Enix guy who spins cleaning up someone else's mess into a feel-good story about himself.
Isn't he still way better than Yoshida, with his whole "Look how magnificently I cleaned up someone else's mess, aren't I great lol" act (when it was actually his underlings' work)?
Pretty much everyone who's partnered with them has failed, right?
If taking the money and producing zero results just ends with a clean "okay, we're done here,"
you could almost call NetEase the good guy in this.
Not that I actually know how it really went down.
The ones getting cut are exactly the studios that partnered up and then never released a single game.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Nagoshi Studio was founded by Toshihiro Nagoshi, known for Sega’s Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) series, after he left Sega, with funding from China’s major gaming company NetEase. What drew attention to this dissolution was that the studio shut down without ever releasing a single game, and on the thread many voices pointed out that “we still don’t even know what they were actually making.” The discussion splits roughly into two threads. One concerns Nagoshi himself, with comparisons drawn to Hideo Kojima — who likewise left Sega and went on to work with Sony and Microsoft — underscoring that Nagoshi, by contrast, “wasn’t picked up by anyone.” The other concerns NetEase’s track record of funding Japanese studios more broadly, citing examples like Ouka Studio and GPTRACK50, other NetEase-backed Japanese studios that also shut down within a short span, which raised doubts about the funding model itself. It’s worth noting that specifics on investment amounts and development progress remain within the realm of speculation on the thread, without any confirmed figures presented.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Nagoshi Studio Dissolved.”
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