The creator of Yakuza Toshihiro Nagoshi is reportedly leaving Sega after 32 years to join NetEase.
According to a new Bloomberg report, NetEase is in “final negotiations” with Nagoshi for him to leave Sega and join the Chinese company.
Nagoshi joined Sega in 1989 and is the developer behind other video games such as Sega Rally and Monkey Ball, but most notably the Yakuza franchise which debuted in 2005 and now spans eight main entries and multiple spin-off titles.
The Japanese developer was the chief creative officer for Sega until 2021 when he became creative director and general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio as well as a member of the board of directors for Atlus.
Bloomberg explained that Nagoshi “hasn’t signed a final contract and his duties have yet to be finalized” however he is “expected to set up his own team and create new games”.
NetEase has been in partnership with Blizzard Entertainment since 2008 and it publishes titles in China such as World Of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Starcraft II.
Lost Judgment which is set to launch worldwide on September 24 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, is an action-adventure sequel to the 2018 title Judgment and spin-off of the Yakuza series.
Recently, a demo for the upcoming title was leaked via the Japanese PlayStation Network suggesting fans will be able to get a playable teaser very soon.
Meanwhile, Disco Elysium The Final Cut has been rated for Xbox and Nintendo Switch consoles. There is no release date set for those platforms, but the original Final Cut released earlier this year for PC and PlayStation.
Elsewhere, Xbox has partnered with The FA and the English national football teams.
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