Monkey Ball And Yakuza Creator Toshihiro Nagoshi Has Formed His Very Own Studio

As had been suspected following his departure from Sega last year, Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has teamed up with Chinese gaming giant NetEase to form a brand new development studio.

NetEase has today announced the establishment of Nagoshi Studio Inc., where Nagoshi himself will take on the role of Representative Director and CEO. He’s joined by eight other ex-members of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio: Daisuke Sato (producer), Kazuki Hosokawa (artist), Koji Tokieda (programmer), Masao Shirosaki (game designer), Mitsunori Fujimoto (engineer), Naoki Someya (artist), Taichi Ushioda (director), and Toshihiro Ando (artist).

The studio will have a focus on “developing high-quality console titles that will be released globally,” and a press release detailing the new announcements notes that “Nagoshi Studio Inc. enjoys full authority to manage and create the kinds of games that they are passionate about, with NetEase Games’ support.”

It’s said that both companies share the same commitment to “unleash the potential of creators in an open and inclusive environment, hoping to reach and touch passionate gamers around the globe with high-quality and engaging content.”

Naturally, finer details such as potential upcoming projects and the platforms Nagoshi Studio will develop titles for are still unknown.