A few years ago, NetEase Games helped fund several game development studios based in Western countries and Japan. Over the last year, though, many of those were abruptly shut down in the middle of developing those projects that NetEase had expressed interest in the first place.
This includes Worlds Untold (spearheaded by a Mass Effect writer, who was working with his team on a sci-fi action/adventure game), Jar of Sparks (founded by former Halo Infinite developers), Ouka Studios (the only one to actually release their game, Visions of Mana, before being shut down), and more recently T-Minus Zero Entertainment and Fantastic Pixel Castle. The former studio has received an unexpected second wind thanks to a few veterans and directors who decided to invest in retaining the name; the latter now has an expiration date of November 17, although founder Greg Street is still trying to secure funding until the last possible moment.
NetEase must have mandated that November 17 date, as it's the same expiration date that another developer, the Montréal-based Bad Brain Game Studios, communicated a few hours ago in a LinkedIn post. Sean Crooks, Studio Head and former Ubisoft developer on Watch Dogs games, is still trying to shop around the game they were working on, The Midnight Riders:
As we close this chapter, the game and its underlying IP is still available for acquisition or partnership, and we/NetEase are open to discussions with publishers or studios who see potential in continuing its development. We believe strongly in what was created, and would love to see this world find its way to players.
To help showcase their work, they shared a sizzle reel, which makes it look a lot like a proper Stranger Things game. Indeed, when we interviewed Sean Crooks in June 2023, he shared his vision for a 'Steven Spielberg meets Stephen King in an open world with a coming-of-age story'. The game was also clearly set in the 1980s.
There are other studios whose fate is currently uncertain, such as Jackalyptic Games, which is working on a Warhammer-based massively multiplayer online game. Unfortunately, there has been no official update, only rumors that Jack Emmert and his team are also looking for another publisher. Even a high-profile hire such as Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has only been given enough resources to finish his game, and according to reports, NetEase doesn't even want to pay for its marketing anymore.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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