A few weeks after the official YouTube page for Nagoshi Studio’s Gang of Dragon had gone offline, it now looks like the studio’s entire website has been taken down. As caught by Reddit users, the shutdown of the studio’s official website falls in line with reports from back in March that NetEase was ceasing funding for the project.
The studio was confirmed to have been working on a single title—Gang of Dragon. While it hasn’t made any official announcement on the matter, the fact that its website and YouTube page have been taken down likely indicates that the title has been cancelled, or has at least been put on ice while director Toshihiro Nagoshi looks for more funding elsewhere.
It is worth noting that the X account for the studio remains live. However, it hasn’t seen any activity in quite some time, with its last post being published on February 17th, celebrating the fact that the Gang of Dragons trailer had gotten 650,000 views. There have also been no changes made to the action game’s Steam listing yet, aside from one from April 3rd that brought in higher-resolution banner assets (via SteamDB).
Reports have indicated that NetEase’s decision to cut funding for Gang of Dragon came down to the fact that it was going over budget. The studio was allegedly going to need an additional ¥7 billion to ship the game, translating to around $44 million. If Nagoshi were to get more funding to work on the project, he would have to pay NetEase Games to acquire the IP and its assets.
Gang of Dragon was going to be the first project by Nagoshi’s studio, which was founded back in 2022 after his departure from Yakuza/Like a Dragon developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios.
“For creators, this makes working in the industry today incredibly challenging,” said Nagoshi when he announced his studio’s founding. “But no matter how the times change, I believe that what people essentially want from entertainment has not changed one bit. People see their dreams in entertainment. People look to entertainment to give them hope in life, to soothe them in times of difficulty, and to add excitement in happy times. People look to entertainment to provide the spark for all kinds of events.”
“The appetite for entertainment is the same today as it was in the past. There are obviously differences between the past and the present in how entertainment is consumed, its volume and velocity, but its essence remains the same. The only way to deliver this essence to the world is if all creators approach the works they create with seriousness and clarity while grinding away to get closer to reaching the ideal.”
Gang of Dragon was originally unveiled at The Game Awards 2025 back in December with a trailer revealing its protagonist, Shin Ji-seong, who was going to be played by actor Ma Dong-seok. The story would revolve around a Korean syndicate and the Tokyo underworld, and was likely going to make use of Tokyo’s Kabukichō district as its primary setting.
