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It looks like the curtain has come down on Nagoshi Studio. As reported by Gematsu, the Tokyo-based developer founded by Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi was formally dissolved by a shareholders’ resolution on 31 October. The notice was published in today’s edition of Kanpo, Japan’s official government gazette.
The news doesn’t come entirely out of the blue. In March 2026, Bloomberg reported that NetEase Games planned to stop funding the studio in May. According to the report, the studio had the option of going independent if it could pay its own way out.
The dissolution notice suggests that didn’t happen, or at least not in a way that kept Nagoshi Studio running in its current form. Neither NetEase nor Nagoshi have commented publicly on the closure at the time of writing.
What happens to Gang of Dragon?
The big question is what this means for Gang of Dragon, the studio’s only announced project. Revealed for PC in December 2025, it’s an action-adventure set in Kabukicho, Shinjuku’s famous nightlife district, which was also the real-world inspiration for the Yakuza series’ Kamurocho.
The game stars Korean actor Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, as Shin Ji-seong, a high-ranking member of a Korean crime syndicate based in Kabukicho. Played from a third-person perspective, combat centres on Shin’s sheer physical strength, mixing brutal hand-to-hand fighting with blades, gunplay and vehicle action across the city.
There’s been no word on whether Gang of Dragon has been cancelled, or whether it could continue elsewhere, for example with a new publisher or under a different company. For now, it’s in limbo.
AltChar have reached out to NetEase Games for comment on the studio’s closure and the future of Gang of Dragon, and will update this article if we receive a response.
