Nagoshi Studio has closed, ending the Yakuza creator's Gang of Dragon

Nagoshi Studio, the Tokyo developer founded by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, has closed, and its first game Gang of Dragon appears to be cancelled. Eurogamer reported on November 2, 2026 that the closure was confirmed in Kanpo, Japan's official government gazette.

How it got here

Nagoshi opened the studio in 2021 with backing from NetEase and revealed Gang of Dragon roughly a year ago. Earlier this year staff learned the studio's survival was in doubt once NetEase cut its funding. Finishing the game would reportedly have taken a further £33.1 million (roughly $44.4 million then), and NetEase is said to have declined to pay it.

Part of a wider NetEase pullback

The publisher behind Marvel Rivals and Where Winds Meet has been reducing its overseas investments for several years. Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios closed just after its game shipped. Worlds Untold, founded by former Mass Effect writer Mac Walters, paused development to look for a new partner, and a studio led by former Halo Infinite lead Jerry Hook hit similar problems last year. Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture avoided that fate through a management buyout and is now independent.

What was lost

Little was ever shown of Gang of Dragon. Its reveal trailer leaned into the violent crime drama Nagoshi's Yakuza games are known for and starred Ma Dong-seok, the actor known for Train to Busan and Marvel's Eternals.

For fans of the Like a Dragon series, it means Nagoshi's first project outside Sega will not be released, and there is no word yet on what he does next.

Source: Eurogamer, citing Japan's Kanpo gazette.