Visions of Mana was only released yesterday, August 29th, but according to a fresh report, plans to scale back and ultimately close down JRPG developer Ouka Studios have been in the works for quite some time. The current situation is that NetEase has laid off “all but a few positions.”
This comes from Bloombergwhich investigated NetEase and Tencent, as well as restricting Japanese investments by both major Chinese companies.
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Ouka opened in 2020 and has hired veteran developers from companies like Capcom and Bandai Namco. Visions of Mana, published by Square Enix, was revealed at last year’s The Game Awards and locked down for a summer release via an Xbox Developer Direct gameplay reveal in January.
The report claims that most of Ouka’s staff has been laid off, and those who remain are overseeing the studio’s remaining games before its closure. Its author, Takashi Mochizuki, added on Twitter that “NetEase has been cutting staff at Ouka for a while now, at least since this spring.”
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So it seems like the decision to close the studio (assuming it happens) isn’t a reaction to the release. And honestly, it doesn’t seem like NetEase would have had much time to analyze whether the game actually meets its goals if it did.
NetEase told Bloomberg it had “nothing to announce” when asked about the potential closure of Ouka, with a company spokesperson saying, “As we support studios outside of China, we develop our strategy based on our goal of providing a better gaming experience for local and global players,” adding that NetEase “always makes necessary changes to reflect market conditions.”
Tencent, the other company discussed in the report, said it remains committed to its business operations in Japan. It struck a deal in 2023 to make a mobile version of Bandai Namco’s MMORPG Blue Protocol, which it announced this week is set to shut down in January 2025, with a global launch by Amazon Games set to fall through.
