Yakuza Creator's Nagoshi Studio Shuts Down: Is Gang of Dragon Cancelled?

Nagoshi Studio, the team founded by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, has officially shut down. The studio was dissolved by a shareholders' resolution effective October 31, 2026, according to a notice in Japan's official government gazette, Kanpo. That leaves its only game, the Kabukicho crime action game Gang of Dragon, without a developer, less than a year after it was revealed at The Game Awards.

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What happened

• Dissolved: Nagoshi Studio's shareholders voted to dissolve the company as of October 31, 2026. The Kanpo notice says the studio will now wind up its assets and settle its debts.
• Funding cut: Chinese publisher NetEase, which backed the studio, confirmed earlier this year that it had stopped funding it. Earlier reports said the game needed about another ¥7 billion (around $44 million) to finish.
• Warning signs: the studio's official YouTube channel and website went offline in the spring, which many fans took as a sign the end was near.

Is Gang of Dragon cancelled?

Not officially, but it doesn't look good. NetEase hasn't formally announced a cancellation, and no other studio or publisher has said it will finish the game. The Steam page is still up and still says "Coming soon", but with the developer dissolved, it's hard to see how the game gets released unless someone buys the project.

What Gang of Dragon was

Gang of Dragon was revealed at The Game Awards in December 2025 as a PC action-adventure set in Shinjuku, Tokyo, including the Kabukicho entertainment district, the same area that inspired Kamurocho in the Yakuza series. It starred Korean actor Ma Dong-seok (known in the West as Don Lee, from Train to Busan and Marvel's Eternals) as Shin Ji-seong.

The screenshots showed a darker, more realistic take on the Yakuza formula: hand-to-hand brawls, guns including a minigun, and even a car garage where you could tune and arm your vehicle.

Who is Toshihiro Nagoshi?

Nagoshi is one of Sega's most famous creators: he started the Yakuza series (now called Like a Dragon) and worked on classics like Super Monkey Ball and Daytona USA. He left Sega in 2021 and set up Nagoshi Studio with NetEase's backing. Gang of Dragon was meant to be his comeback.

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Part of a bigger trend

Nagoshi Studio isn't alone. Big publishers have been cutting costs all year, and studios with a single unreleased game are the most at risk. In the past few weeks we've covered EA's moves at BioWare and Microsoft closing Arkane Lyon, which was making Marvel's Blade.

My take

This one hurts. A Yakuza-style game from the series' creator, starring Ma Dong-seok, was one of the most exciting reveals of last year's Game Awards. The positive way to look at it: game projects have been rescued before, and a game this far along with a star attached could still find a buyer. But until someone says so, treat Gang of Dragon as on ice. If you want a fix in the meantime, the Like a Dragon series that Nagoshi started is still going strong at Sega.