Yakuza creator’s new studio reports profits in 2023 despite not having any games out yet 

Toshihiro Nagoshi’s new game company Nagoshi Studio published financial reports for the fiscal year 2023 via Japan’s government gazette on June 18 (source: Gamebiz). According to the report, the company saw a net profit of 16 million yen between January and December 2023. This news has generated some confusion as the studio has yet to release any titles since its founding. 

Nagoshi Studio was established in November 2021 by former Sega COO and Like a Dragon/Yakuza series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of NetEase Games.  

The studio is currently working on an unannounced “high-end” game with a worldwide release in mind. As this will be Nagoshi Studio’s first product, their recently published profits are generating curiosity as to what else they may have been up to. The brief financial report does not give details about the company’s activities, leading some people to speculate that the profit comes from outsourced work for other companies or work being shuffled between NetEase Games’ other subsidiaries. 

In the meantime, Nagoshi Studio appears to be in the process of forming their team, as they are currently looking to fill numerous positions for artists, programmers and level designers. Nagoshi’s fans from his Sega days are keeping their eyes peeled for new info about his first game with Nagoshi Studio, which he has described as violent but “like a Quentin Tarantino film,” containing both silliness and seriousness (via VGC).