A Grasshopper Manufacture, a Japanese studio led by Goichi Suda and known for the series No More Heroes, has returned to operating as an independent developer this Thursday (1st), ending five years under the control of NetEase Games. The decision was made after negotiations between the two companies.
NetEase acquired Grasshopper in 2021, when it took over the studio from GungHo Online Entertainment. In the statement about the separation, Suda said the team began discussing its next step after completing Romeo Is a Dead Man, released in February this year.
According to the executive, the studio intends to explore a greater variety of projects and believes that the experience accumulated with self-publishing has expanded the alternatives for financing and launching its next games. Grasshopper has not ruled out working again with NetEase on future projects.
Independence restores greater control to the studio over decisions related to development and publishing, but there are still no details on how its next projects will be financed or distributed. The company also did not announce, along with the separation, a new game for this phase.
The change comes amid a broader review of NetEase's international investments. Since 2025, the Chinese company has been reducing part of its exposure to studios outside China, with cuts, closures and a search for alternatives for some teams in its portfolio. Grasshopper, however, said that its departure was decided by mutual agreement with its former parent company.
