It Certainly Looks Like Yakuza Successor Gang Of Dragon Is Dead

While some fans are still holding out hope for a financial savior to sweep in and save Nagoshi Studios' debut title, Gang of Dragon, more small details have emerged from print and social media this week that paint a very unpleasant picture of the studio's fate. Things haven't been looking particularly rosy for the upstart Nagoshi Studios--headed by former Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi--for a while now. Following a reveal of their debut title, , at The Game Awards, things soon looked very shaky when it was revealed that their primary funder, Chinese giant NetEase, was pulling out of further commitments. Following the sudden vanishing (and reappearance) of their YouTube channel, followed by their website going offline, things have been pointing in a dire direction. The first indication of further trouble comes from the 40th anniversary issue of storied Japanese video game magazine Famitsu. As reported by Automaton, the issue contains congratulatory messages from a variety of Japanese game creators, including Toshihiro Nagoshi. But what's notable is that Nagoshi, rather than being listed as attached to a studio--such as the one named after him--or freelance like the other featured individuals, is simply listed as "game creator." Another indicator of the studio's health--or lack thereof--comes from popular social media deal-finder/news-breaker Wario64, who noticed something peculiar in the Twitter profile of studio co-founder and director Daisuke Sato. With such a high-profile figure now listing his involvement with the studio as "ex-," combined with Nagoshi's lack of title in Famitsu, it's hardly a stretch to assume that Nagoshi Studio is either defunct or running on fumes and praying for a miracle. Either way, it's unlikely that Gang of Dragon will surface in the big-budget, AAA-game form that was originally envisioned, if it surfaces at all. With the game industry as a whole undergoing a contraction and numerous storied studios being shuttered, Nagoshi Studios likely becoming another casualty is a depressing--but also unsurprising--outcome. Fans of the older-style Yakuza titles may have to look to Stranger than Heaven (which has seen blowback over casting choices) or Virtua Fighter Crossroads to attempt to scratch that itch.