Toshihiro Nagoshi's NetEase-backed studio was dissolved by a shareholders' vote on October 31, less than a year after it revealed Gang of Dragon at The Game Awards. The game's Steam page is still up, but nobody is saying what happens to it now.
Nagoshi Studio, the Tokyo studio that Like a Dragon (Yakuza) creator Toshihiro Nagoshi started after leaving SEGA, is officially gone. A notice in Japan’s government gazette, Kanpo, published November 2 (Japan time), says the company was dissolved by a shareholders’ resolution on October 31, per Gematsu and AUTOMATON.
That puts a formal end to a slow collapse fans have watched play out all year, and it leaves the studio’s one and only game, Gang of Dragon, in limbo.
What you need to know
- It’s official. The dissolution notice ran on page 176 of Official Gazette No. 240, per Inven Global. The shareholders voted to dissolve on October 31.
- Who’s closing it out. Minoru Morinaga is listed as the representative liquidator. Nagoshi himself is not.
- What dissolution means here. The company is entering liquidation to settle its debts and close the business. Inven Global notes that is not the same thing as a bankruptcy from insolvency. The notice gives creditors two months to come forward, per Game*Spark via Yahoo Japan.
- Gang of Dragon’s status. The game’s Steam page is still live with no release date. There has been no official cancellation, and no word on new investors or a handoff to another studio.
Trending on X: Nagoshi Studio Shuts Down After NetEase Pulls Funding
How we got here
- November 2021: Nagoshi Studio is founded in Shinjuku, Tokyo, fully funded by NetEase Games, after Nagoshi leaves SEGA. Like a Dragon producer Daisuke Sato goes with him. The studio announces itself in January 2022 with a goal of high-end console games for a global audience.
- December 2025: The studio reveals Gang of Dragon at The Game Awards. It’s a cinematic action adventure set in Kabukicho’s criminal underworld, starring Korean actor Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) as Shin Ji-seong, mixing hand-to-hand fighting, blades, gunplay and driving.
- March 2026: Bloomberg reports NetEase will stop funding the studio starting in May. Bloomberg says the game needed about 7 billion yen (around $44 million) more to finish. NetEase was open to letting the studio go independent, but the studio would have had to pay to keep its development assets and IP.
- March 31, 2026: Nagoshi, Sato and the other directors leave the company’s board, according to Japan’s corporate registry, as reported by Game*Spark.
- April to June 2026: The studio’s YouTube channel is deleted (later restored), its website goes dark in May, and several developers list the end of May as their exit date.
- October 31, 2026: Shareholders vote to dissolve.
Yakuza Creator’s Nagoshi Studio Is Officially Dead, and Gang of Dragon Is Left HangingShould Xbox step in and save Gang of Dragon?
Vote and see what other Xbox fans think.
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OnPoint’s take: This one stings. Nagoshi is the guy behind one of the most beloved crime series in gaming, and Gang of Dragon looked like his big swing: a Kabukicho crime drama with a real movie star in the lead. Three months after the reveal, the money was gone. That’s the part people need to sit with.
Here’s what a lot of folks aren’t seeing. This wasn’t a flop. The game never even shipped. It died because one publisher decided to stop paying and held the keys to everything the team had already built. That’s the risk when a creator signs with a parent company that can change its mind.
For PC players, keep an eye on that Steam page. As long as it’s up, there’s a tiny bit of hope somebody buys the assets and finishes it. And honestly, if any platform holder should be calling about a Yakuza-style crime game starring Ma Dong-seok, it’s Xbox. Asha’s whole pitch is going on offense with big games, and a talent like Nagoshi sitting on the sidelines is a waste.
Right now, though, the honest read is that Gang of Dragon is probably never coming out, and that’s a loss for everybody who loves this genre. It is what it is, but it didn’t have to be.
Image: Nagoshi Studio / NetEase
