Image via Sega

When Yakuza studio head Toshihiro Nagoshi left Sega Nihon last fall, fans of the series were curious about what the creator would make side by side. At the time, he said he was going "to take a dissimilar path." It seems that path has led him to the neighboring nation of China to piece of work for NetEase.

VGC spotted a trademark filed at the European Union Intellectual Holding Office. Called "Nagoshi Studio," the filing's link to the onetime Yakuza managing director seems pretty clear. His name isn't directly fastened to the EUIPO list, merely the "computer game software" service named in the filing quite strongly implies his involvement. As well named in the listing is Ingenias, which as VGC points out, is the filing representative for previous NetEase trademarks. This all falls in line with Bloomberg's Baronial 2022 written report that claimed Nagoshi would exist joining NetEase.

NetEase has certainly been expanding its reach in contempo months. It acquired No More than Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture in Oct, a move which Grasshopper studio head Suda51 said would "ensure that we are able to go on to maintain the consistent 'Grasshopper Industry flavour' and game quality for which nosotros are known." NetEase also launched The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War on mobile devices around the aforementioned time every bit that acquisition.