Chinese developer and publisher NetEase is reportedly in "final negotiations" with Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi to hire him away from Sega, where he's been since 1989.
According to a report from Bloomberg, at NetEase Nagoshi would be expected to build a new team and develop brand new games for the company, though the final contract and any details about his job role have yet to be set in stone.
NetEase is already a gaming superpower in China thanks to mobile games like the Westward Journey series, Cyber Hunter, Identity V, and Knives Out (no relation to the film), as well as its partnership with Activision-Blizzard to run World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Starcraft 2 in the country.
However, it is still looking to expand its global notoriety and gain more hits outside of China, especially amidst a growing crackdown on gaming time for minors in China that became even more stringent today.
As Tokyo-based analyst, Serkan Toto, of Kantan Games put it to Bloomberg, companies like NetEase and Tencent are especially interested in acquiring Japanese talent to accomplish these goals. "Tencent and NetEase have been speaking to just about all publicly traded studios here and are actively courting some privately held developers, too. They both feel pressure to make headway in Japan, especially since game regulations in their home market are becoming increasingly restrictive," Toto said.
Nagoshi has been with Sega since the very early days of arcade titles, with his first credit at the company being as a designer on Virtua Racing. He went on to be the producer and director for the Monkey Ball series, before heading up Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and leading the creation of the Yakuza franchise.
The most recent Yakuza game, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, was especially notable for taking the series from an action beat-em-up to a turn-based RPG, whose bold steps we applauded despite its struggles to maintain balance. A sequel to Yakuza spin-off Judgment, entitled Lost Judgment, is planned for next month.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.