According to VentureBeat, Netease has agreed to acquire Grasshopper Manufacture Inc., the Japanese developer behind the No More Heroes franchise.
Grasshopper was founded in 1998 by prominent Japanese game producer Goichi Suda (須田剛一). In 2005, Grasshopper released Killer 7 for the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2, which pushed the company onto the international stage. Over the next few years, the studio also developed a number of games such as Contact, No More Heroes, No More Heroes 2, and Shadows of the Damned.
In 2021, Grasshopper released No More Heroes 3 for the Nintendo Switch.
"As we all know, Netease has developed numerous excellent games in the past, and I know full well that Netease has first-class creative capability." Said Goichi Suda, "Netease and us hit it off when we talked about the possibility of developing more unique console games together." After a thorough and careful deliberation, we've decided to come together in a deeper partnership to create more great content for our gamers."
"As a very reliable partner, Netease understands Grasshopper's strengths and is willing to support us. Netease Games will be primarily responsible for advising us on our business planning activities and providing the funds needed for development. As for us, we will be the creative and developing force to ensure that we constantly deliver Grasshopper style and quality games to our gamers."
Suda also added that in regards to art and QA, Netease has thousands of artists and technical experts who are fully capable to provide support. Grasshopper hopes to make three high-quality games in the next decade, and the team is currently expanding.
Suda’s tweet.
"There are a lot of passionate gamers inside our company, and many of us are Grasshopper fans.” Netease noted, "Mr. Suda's games are quite unique. From concept to content, the games reflect his design philosophy and artistic pursuit in every aspect, forming combinations of styles and elements from various art forms such as noir films, detective fictions, punk rock, trance music, and even cyberpunk."