Nagoshi Studio, formed by Yakuza creator Toshiro Nagoshi at NetEase, shut down on October 31 after shareholders passed a resolution to dissolve the developer. The closure came before the studio released any game.
The studio worked on Gang of Dragon, a title shown in a trailer at The Game Awards last year. In March, NetEase pulled funding for the project. Bloomberg reported that same month that Nagoshi was seeking an additional $44 million to complete the game, a figure NetEase apparently deemed not worth pursuing further. The Gang of Dragon YouTube channel went offline briefly in April, and the game's website was removed in May.
Nagoshi's former studio, RGG Studio at Sega, has released five games in the Yakuza and Like a Dragon franchise since his departure. His final credits at Sega included Lost Judgment, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, and Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown. RGG Studio's releases after Nagoshi left span prequels, sequels, and remakes: Like a Dragon: Ishin, Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Gaiden: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. The studio plans to launch Stranger Than Heaven next year, described as a distant prequel to Like a Dragon that spans 50 years.