Bloomberg: NetEase Games plans to close Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios
Few remaining staff to reportedly oversee final rollout of games.
NetEase Games has cut “all but a handful of jobs” at Tokyo-based subsidiary Ouka Studios, which just shipped Visions of Mana under contract for Square Enix, and plans to close the studio, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.
(Update 10:40 p.m.: According to Bloomberg writer Takashi Mochizuki, NetEase Games has been cutting staff at Ouka Studios since the spring.)
The few staff that remain at the studio will reportedly oversee the rollout of its final games. Back in 2022, two years after its establishment in 2020, Ouka Studios outlined three projects that were currently in development: an action RPG featuring an adventure with unique allies, a new-style battle game based on a popular series, and an original cooperative action game featuring gigantic enemies.
In an email, a NetEase Games representative told Bloomberg it has “nothing to announce” regarding a potential closure of Ouka Studios, and that it is seeing progress at the many Japanese studios it is invested in.
“In supporting studios outside China, we craft our strategy based on our goal of providing better gaming experiences to local and global players,” the NetEase Games spokesperson said. The company is “thus always making necessary adjustments to reflect market conditions.”
NetEase Games also owns the Toshihiro Nagoshi-led Nagoshi Studio, the Goichi “Suda 51” Suda-led Grasshopper Manufacture, and the Hiroyuki Kobayashi-led GPTRACK50.
According to Bloomberg, NetEase Games rival Tencent is also reconsidering the pace and scale of its investment in Japan, having already backed off from at least several funding commitments for new titles.
In a statement, Tencent told Bloomberg that it remains committed to its partner studios and developing its business in Japan.