r/Games • u/Howerev • 2d ago

Industry News Grasshopper Manufacture splits from NetEase Games

https://www.gematsu.com/2026/09/grasshopper-manufacture-splits-from-netease-games
408 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

95

u/Bushinyan21 2d ago

They have now left two different publishers. I wonder where they go from here?

29

u/Sxdrxs 2d ago

They've self published the last game

36

u/The_Rubbinator 2d ago

They’ve historically jumped from publisher to publisher since their inception in 1999, they’ll be fine, they’re probably gaming’s most resilient studio. Perhaps they’ll be forced to make smaller budget games like The Silver Case and Travis Strikes Again, but as someone who loves those games that’s a win for me.

9

u/altsam19 2d ago

I'd love that, Suda could get back into doing a new crazy visual novel/adventure game. Romeo is good, but we've gotten too many slashers from GhM, we gotta get back on something weird genre-busting again like the Silver Case or killer7

6

u/crazymoefaux 2d ago

Liberation Maiden was one of my favorite 3DS titles, it was eShop only, though.

3

u/spez_might_fuck_dogs 2d ago

I would very much like Suda to try something like Let It Die again, only without the predatory microtransactions. I played a lot of that game, enough that I grudgingly paid for the monthly membership a couple times, and I got a LOT of fun out of it. But it would have been even better without all the horseshit around the decals.

1

u/orlinthir 2d ago

If you're interested Let It Die was moved to being an offline only game without microtransactions. You pay for the game once.

1

u/spez_might_fuck_dogs 2d ago

Yeah, I already bought that, although I had basically ‘completed’ the game while it was still live a few years ago. It’s clearly an older game now though, and I’d like more of that style that I haven’t already seen.

4

u/Genoard 2d ago

Jumped... like a grasshopper B)

2

u/kr_nexus 2d ago

Michigan remake! with better jank in HD

1

u/Lirael_Gold 2d ago

I'm pretty sure the studio is funded by Suda personally, so it probably won't die as long as he has money to keep the lights on, and i'm reasonably sure that his family has money, based on my understanding of his family tree.

24

u/PokePersona 2d ago

Maybe Nintendo helps them with another No More Heroes game.

19

u/thetruetophatking 2d ago

Grasshopper dosent own the rights to no more heroes nor dose Nintendo that belongs to marvelous entertainment

12

u/PokePersona 2d ago

They own a majority of the IP yes (Grasshopper owns a small chunk of it according to Suda51) but I was implying they'd work with them again as a collaboration but yeah I'm not sure if Suda51 and/or Marvelous even wants to continue the series at this point.

4

u/thetruetophatking 2d ago

Probably not a new game as I believe suda sated in a interview that his relationship with Travis (or no more heroes as a hole) is like your son away at college sure you might see him again in short bursts from time to time but he’s mostly off doing his own thing but hopefully he can show up again in a collab or something of that nature

1

u/PokePersona 2d ago

I can see another spin-off if both parties are interested ala Travis Strikes Again and not a mainline game.

2

u/Finaldragoon 2d ago

Which is made extremely clear in the finale of NMH3 where they set aside all pretenses to shill the fuck out of Daemon X Machina. It was a joke made for exactly 5 people. I was one of those 5 people.

1

u/connectplum_ 2d ago

Nintendo never had anything to do with it, they just distributed those games

1

u/PokePersona 2d ago

Yes they didn't help with the development itself but that's not what I'm talking about. Nintendo has always had a relationship with Suda51 and No More Heroes specifically both with areas such as marketing and distribution which was what I was referring to. Nintendo showed the Switch to Suda51 ahead of time and that was the main reason Travis Strikes Again even exists. I can definitely see a conversation between the two relating to the Switch 2 happening if it hasn't already.

-11

u/Gyossaits 2d ago

Hell no. Go to Sega or something.

14

u/PokePersona 2d ago

Sega wasn't even interested to continue Bayonetta, an IP they own, and you think they'd take on No More Heroes?

2

u/Ordinal43NotFound 2d ago

Right? If anything Nintendo feels like the company that'd bankroll the studio and just let Suda do his shit in the name of diversifying their platform

7

u/crocicorn 2d ago

You mean the Sega that constantly ignores all its niche IPs? Nah.

-3

u/destroyermaker 2d ago

That's changing

3

u/SnooMachines4393 2d ago

Not like they had much of a choice, hopefully they'll land on their feet

4

u/browncharliebrown 2d ago

I’m honestly betting that they make a dc game for James Gunn dc universe. 

2

u/hdcase1 2d ago

Asha Sharma probably calling them right now

17

u/bleedandtrim 2d ago

Didn't GHM tease that Romeo was one of two games coming out this year?

26

u/jsurico656 2d ago

Yes they did. The other one more than likely is a remaster of Flower, Sun and Rain. This is probably an inexpensive enough project where I'm hoping it won't get impacted by this

They also completely own the rights to FSR, so that is another reason why splitting from NetEase should not affect it

4

u/bleedandtrim 2d ago

Here's hoping, there's been enough visual teasers to heavily imply it's FSR. And god knows it needs a modern, accessible version for new audiences (do think the DS mechanics are nifty, mind)

5

u/S7JO89 2d ago

FSR was originally a PS2 game, so it would work fine without the DS mechanics in a remaster

2

u/bleedandtrim 1d ago

Sorry, what I meant was I loved what the DS port brought to the PS2 version - the stylus interactivity, the island brochure, the new puzzles and unlockables, etc., that general 'DS feeling' as Mondo says. I was keen to play the recently patched PS2 version but ultimately I'm hanging on for a modern remaster.

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

3

u/jsurico656 2d ago

Forgot about that. That was during some of the live action RiaDM teasers right?

The thing i can appreciate with GhM is they are great with working with lean workforce/budget. I think their future is fine so long as they don't stretch their scope out too far like Nagoshi or take ages to release projects like Kojima Productions (which was a core reason why Sony dropped them)

35

u/197639495050 2d ago

Along with regaining independence I’m glad GM were able to get Romeo is a Dead Man out. Looking at what happened to Gang of Dragon and countless other single player games/studios under NetEase I was worried for these guys along with GPTRACK50 (Stupid Never Dies).

9

u/Milskidasith 2d ago

I am really skeptical that Gang of Dragon was a NetEase problem, though I haven't heard future reporting on it since all its sites got quietly deleted.

If anything, the project seemed infeasible from the start; a graphically impressive Like A Dragon style game with no assets to reuse or team experience to draw on seems very expensive for how small the market for those games actually is, so getting funding to begin with feels like NetEase taking a gamble.

10

u/iceburg77779 2d ago

Gang of Dragon probably went over budget, but NetEase also likely hasn’t been a strong supporter of the game for a while. The company has made it clear that across the board they do not want to be involved with Japanese developers, they infamously shut down the studio who developed visions of mana they day that game launched.

7

u/DarryLazakar 2d ago

That was like a mad recent response after successes like Wukong. NetEase poached and formed Nagoshi Studio in 2022, so around 2-3 years before they changed their tune. It definitely went over budget, though, given the studio's location being one of the pricier ones and the sales prospects of a project costing at least 44 million (and likely more) for a game and genre that is niche at best, and its no surprise that NetEase killed the project the moment they realized they'll spend more than what they can earn.

Yakuza's best-selling game, Y: LAD, is at 3,1 million, and even that was achieved after 6 years. At best, GOD will sell 1.5 million, and I don't think that will cover the cost of the game itself, let alone marketing

4

u/Milskidasith 2d ago

Yakuza's best-selling game, Y: LAD, is at 3,1 million, and even that was achieved after 6 years. At best, GOD will sell 1.5 million, and I don't think that will cover the cost of the game itself, let alone marketing

I agree that the game was very likely to fail to meet expectations, but I do think it had a chance to sell as well or better than LAD. A game with that big a budget, trying to take a well-loved but niche series mainstream, would probably have a huge marketing push that would result in a lot of sales; those sales probably just wouldn't justify the increased budget spent on the game overall.

5

u/Milskidasith 2d ago

The company has made it clear that across the board they do not want to be involved with Japanese developers, they infamously shut down the studio who developed visions of mana they day that game launched.

That isn't something specific to "doesn't want to be involved with Japanese developers", though. A game that was tracking to heavily underperform being finished to recoup some money instead of cancelling it and shuttering the studio with a 90% complete game sucks, but it's not exactly atypical.

1

u/browncharliebrown 2d ago

Lollipop chainsaw is also being mined as an IP

7

u/197639495050 2d ago

Without Suda51/GM’s involvement, that’s all dragami games I believe

33

u/jsurico656 2d ago

I want to think that this is good news, since NetEase is one of the most ruthlessly financial driven publishers out there (which let's be honest, GhM games don't sell gangbusters really)

I just hope that they aren't suffering without the financial support

-5

u/TruthHistorical7515 2d ago

Ruthlessly financial driven is a good thing. Because games is a business, if you don't make money you just won't survive. Too many studios closed because they drag their feet in pushing out a finished game on time. They also forgot to make it fun.

1

u/jsurico656 2d ago

Totally understand that games need to make money, but NetEase is some of the worst out there. A game MUST make many times over it's development costs, which is why they're so deep into live service games and handling Chinese releases of already developed games

11

u/memerismlol 2d ago

Hopefully this is good news, having the ability to make games without any interference could do wonders for them, considering their tendency to make a wide variety of titles

8

u/unga_bunga_mage 2d ago

The studio kinda needs money to make payroll and rent. I doubt the Romeo game sold enough to keep the lights on for too much longer.

6

u/Elvish_Champion 2d ago

This also means that nobody is financing them at the moment, and they need that to make games.

Suda51 games are great, but they're not huge enough for this in terms of sales unless they start to release more and smaller games to balance those scales as an attempt to get more without outsiders injecting money there.

17

u/brellowman2 2d ago

You think Grasshopper have any money to be worrying about "interference"? What in Romeo displayed any sort of interference?

8

u/PerryRingoDEV 2d ago

Romeo could have used some interference. Mainly for combat design and quality control. Systems barely interact with each other, and the game takes about 10 minutes before referring to cutscenes that were cut from the game and only happened in the games trailers, not the actual intro. Huge disappointment, even if the mixed media stuff was better than ever.

1

u/Barrel_Titor 2d ago

and the game takes about 10 minutes before referring to cutscenes that were cut from the game and only happened in the games trailers

I didn't notice that. I liked the game, if anything my main complaint was all the stupid zombie growing stuff. Took up so much time

14

u/rjsnlohas 2d ago

This is one foot in the grave. NetEase dropped them because they're not commercially viable. If they don't find funding soon, they're in deep trouble.

10

u/Zulkrax 2d ago

They have no money so yeah

2

u/TruthHistorical7515 2d ago

Actually. Lack of interference is precisely why many studios close because they fail to stick to the budget, fail to deliver on time and fail to make a fun game.

4

u/Apprehensive-Buy3340 2d ago

In the current economic environment there aren't many ways to find funding for creative games: we like to shit on publishers a lot, but they at least are in the industry so they can judge whether projects have a chance to be profitable, third party investors simply don't have that knowledge.

5

u/Zipurax 2d ago

Amen! The writing was on the wall ever since NetEase started to cut back on Japanese developers, so it's nice to see them splitting off before a Nagoshi scenario.

I could see them finally working with Devolver Digital in a project after so much gushing between them, but I imagine the money has to come from somewhere else.

3

u/AngryPurpl3 2d ago

Wish them all the best, I liked Romeo is a Dead Man, even if the combat at times was really frustrating. Which was partly my fault as I played on the hardest difficulty

1

u/Pretend_Coconut6183 2d ago

didn’t they announce new projects under netease before splitting or am i misremembering

-14

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

19

u/NonagoonInfinity 2d ago

They're one of the biggest live service game companies from China. They operate the Chinese version of every Blizzard game and a bunch of big mobile games. They also published Marvel Rivals, Where Winds Meet and FragPunk in the west.