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| Image Toshihiro Nagoshi |
According to Bloomberg, Nagoshi is in “final negotiations” with Hangzhou, which is one of the world's top video game firms thanks to its huge success in China's PC and mobile gaming industries.
Although a definitive deal has yet to be signed, Nagoshi is said to be forming his own team and developing new games for NetEase. NetEase Inc. is in final talks with Sega to hire Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Yakuza franchise, an indication of how Chinese gaming firms are branching out beyond their native territory in the face of a government-led crackdown.
In recent years, NetEase and rival Tencent have been attempting to expand their reach outside of China, partially as a result of the Chinese government's crackdown on gaming addiction in minors, which has driven the businesses to reduce in-game investment.
The hiring from Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. would be the greatest coup in a battle between NetEase and competitor Tencent Holdings Ltd. to acquire video game expertise and assets in Japan, which has become increasingly important due to slowing growth and regulatory pressure at home.
According to individuals knowledgeable about the scenario, Nagoshi, who created and directed one of Sega's most popular action series, is anticipated to form his own team and produce new games. He hasn't signed a definitive contract, and his responsibilities haven't been finalized, they added, declining to be identified since they were discussing a private agreement.
Tencent and NetEase have been working for years to stock their content libraries with more of Japan's highly coveted animation, comics, and games (ACG) products, betting on their potential to become worldwide blockbuster successes. In a country that has always been wary of outside investment, their initiatives are suddenly finding a more receptive audience as a result of the pandemic's impact on funding and Sony Group Corp.'s reductions in support for tiny studios.
Tencent, the world's largest game publisher, sees Japanese material as a possible foundation for its increasingly important ambition to create a Disney-style worldwide media behemoth that includes video, music, and books. According to the sources, it is on the verge of adding another studio to its growing list of purchases in recent years.
Both companies have previously collaborated with non-Chinese gaming studios. NetEase has had a collaboration with Blizzard since 2008, in which NetEase publishes Blizzard's games in China, including Hearthstone, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo III.
However, Timi Studios, the Tencent-owned Call of Duty mobile developer, just launched Pokémon Unite as part of a cooperation with The Pokémon Company and recently established a strategic relationship with Xbox Game Studios. Tencent also revealed last month its plan to fully buy British studio Sumo in a $1.27 billion transaction.
If the Nagoshi transfer goes through and he joins NetEase, it will be a strong indication of the company's ambition to grow beyond China.
Nagoshi joined Sega in 1989 and began his career as a designer for the company's AM2 division under Yu Suzuki. Before becoming a co-producer and co-director of Suzuki's masterpiece Shenmue, he helped create Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, and Daytona USA.
In 2000, Nagoshi was appointed Head of the Sega internal fun vision studio that produced the GX/AX Game of Super Monkey Ball and F-Zero.
In 2005, the Yakuza franchise was created. According to Sega, before the debut of Yakuza, it sold more than 10 million units: like a dragon.
As of April 1st, Nagoshi was nominated creative director of Sega as part of Sega's wider management and organization.
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