Grasshopper Manufacture, the Japanese studio behind No More Heroes, is an independent developer again. CEO Goichi “SUDA51” Suda announced on September 30 that the studio is splitting from NetEase — five years after the Chinese internet giant acquired it in 2021 — and will move forward under its own flag.
Suda51’s Statement
“Having finally completed this all-hands project, as we reflected on the next stage of Grasshopper Manufacture’s future, we found a strong desire to deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles to video game lovers everywhere,” Suda wrote. “As such, Grasshopper Manufacture has chosen to move forward as an independent developer once again.”
He was quick to frame the split as amicable: “This decision was reached after thorough discussions with NetEase Games, and with their generous cooperation. We continue to cherish the amazing relationship our companies have built, and look forward to further collaboration when the opportunity arises.” Suda also pointed to the studio’s improved “self-publishing know-how,” which he says gives Grasshopper “a broad range of options available to us” — and promised the studio remains “committed to creating unique titles featuring the ‘NO GAME NO LIFE’ gaming experience expected of Grasshopper Manufacture with our own signature flavor and further enhanced quality.”
After Romeo Is a Dead Man
The decision follows this year’s self-published Romeo Is a Dead Man, an arcade action-adventure about an FBI investigator who hops through space and time to catch bad guys. Suda says the game received “high acclaim and great reviews” — though he didn’t signal whether it was a commercial success. Kotaku called it “excellent,” and having now proven it can ship and self-publish a full project, the studio feels ready to stand alone again.
NetEase Retreats From Japanese Development
The split is part of a bigger story. After an investment spree in which it poured millions into gaming companies big and small — and helped several Japanese developers leave established publishers to found new studios — NetEase has been systematically pulling back from the industry. It stopped funding Gang of Dragon, the debut game from Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi’s Nagoshi Studios, earlier this year, and appears unlikely to continue with GPTRACK50, another startup it funded, whose action roguelike Stupid Never Dies is being self-published later this month.
For Grasshopper — the cult studio behind No More Heroes, Killer7 and Lollipop Chainsaw — independence is a return to form rather than a leap into the unknown. No new project has been announced yet, but Suda’s promise of “an even wider variety of styles” suggests the studio’s weirdest era may be ahead of it.