After 5 years under the NetEase Games banner, Grasshopper Manufacture is finally reclaiming its independence. Suda51's studio announced the decision today in a press release shared on social media. It's not a huge surprise, and it follows on from the Chinese giant's new strategy: offloading all the Japanese and Western studios it bet on during the COVID period. NetEase had used those years to take stakes in a host of studios and back a whole raft of projects, but that approach has since given way to a narrowing of focus. Several partnerships have already come to an end, and Grasshopper Manufacture now joins that lengthy list...
Suda 51 himself, real name Goichi Suda, announced the newfound independence, explaining that Grasshopper made the call after wrapping up development on Romeo is a Dead Man. The project had tied up the entire team and, once the game shipped back in February, the studio took stock of the direction it wanted to head in over the coming years. A desire to make games in an even wider range of styles reportedly convinced Grasshopper to go independent again, a decision reached after several discussions with NetEase.
The studio is also keen to thank its former owner for its support, and insists relations between the two companies remain good. Grasshopper even says further collaborations with NetEase aren't off the table, whatever form the funding or publishing of its next games takes. Above all, the developer reckons it has used these 5 years to sharpen its self-publishing expertise, which now opens up more options for its future projects.
The timing does, mind you, raise a few questions about how straight Suda51 is playing it here, since the decision came after the release of Romeo is a Dead Man — a game whose performance was frankly disastrous. And knowing how NetEase operates, you hardly need a degree in rocket science to join the dots. Still, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt, eh...
