Grasshopper Manufacture Splits From NetEase, Goes Indie
The No More Heroes developer confirms it is leaving parent company NetEase Games and returning to life as an independent studio.
Grasshopper Manufacture has confirmed that it is no longer owned by NetEase Games and is returning to being an independent developer. The Japanese studio is known for action titles such as Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw and No More Heroes, and earlier this year it shipped Romeo Is a Dead Man. The team said it wanted to go its own way so that it could put out games in a broader range of styles for players around the world. Talks about a split got under way and the two firms decided to go their separate ways.
NetEase acquired Grasshopper back in 2021, bringing the studio into a wider push for Japanese talent. Since then the publisher has pulled back from a string of acquisitions and investments, shutting several studios and pulling its funding from large projects, among them Toshihiro Nagoshi's Gang of Dragon. In its statement, Grasshopper said it continues to cherish the strong relationship the two companies built. The studio returns to independence as an indie outfit once more, and its next project has yet to be detailed. The move follows a broader retreat by NetEase from a number of its overseas investments in recent years.
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Sources
Where this story ran: 3 outlets on 30 September 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.