Nagoshi Studio, founded by the creator of Yakuza, officially dissolved in Japan
Nagoshi Studio, the game studio founded by Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, has officially closed less than a year after announcing its first game, Gang of Dragon. The fate of that game remains unclear.
Nagoshi Studio, a Japanese video game developer founded by Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Yakuza game series, has officially ceased to exist. A notice in Kanpo, the Japanese government's official gazette, states that the company was dissolved on October 31 at a shareholders meeting. What happens to the studio's debut project, Gang of Dragon, is not yet clear.
A game announced last year
After the success of Yakuza, Nagoshi set up his own studio and began work on Gang of Dragon, whose first trailer appeared in December 2025. The game was presented as an evolution of the franchise, again covering the organized crime scene in Tokyo's Kabukicho district, this time through a new protagonist, Shin Ji-Seong, and potentially in a more serious tone.
Funding shortfall
According to a Bloomberg report, NetEase, one of the game's backers, decided to withdraw its funding. The game reportedly still needed more than $44 million to be completed, so the studio had been seeking financial support elsewhere.
What comes next
Per the Kanpo notice, Nagoshi Studio will now liquidate its assets and settle its liabilities. The game's page on the Steam store is still live, but Engadget assesses that Gang of Dragon is unlikely to emerge from development limbo any time soon.
