As a long-time fan of RPG games, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for the team behind Visions of Mana. The news of Ryosuke Yoshida and Kenji Ozawa leaving Ouka Studio just weeks after its release is certainly disheartening, especially considering their significant contributions to the game. It’s like watching your favorite band break up right after releasing a masterpiece album.
Despite Visions of Mana having been released recently, the development team at NetEase’s Ouka Studio did not last long enough to witness Square Enix’s new RPG thrive in the market. The game’s directors, Ryosuke Yoshida and Kenji Ozawa, announced on their respective social media accounts that they had departed from Ouka Studio on October 31. As of now, Ozawa has not disclosed his new workplace, whereas Yoshida has revealed that he joined Square Enix in December.
The recent confirmations lend further support to a Bloomberg report published on August 30, the day following Square Enix’s launch of Visions of Mana on August 29. This report suggested that NetEase had been gradually reducing its workforce at Ouka Studio, with only a handful left to manage the release of their final projects – however, it seems there was only one remaining project, which is indeed Visions of Mana.
It seems that Ouka Studio, following the departure of key directors, appears to be on the verge of permanent closure. Simultaneously, a Bloomberg report suggests that major Chinese companies are re-evaluating their investments in Japan’s gaming industry. However, no significant changes have been observed yet among other Japanese studios that have received investment from these Chinese companies.
Example: In 2022, the producer of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, Toshihiro Nagoshi, founded Nagoshi Studio under NetEase and is thriving as evidenced by a new promotional video and an interview in Famitsu this November. Similarly, Hideaki Itsuno, previously with Capcom and responsible for Dragon’s Dogma 2, has been unveiled as the main figure behind the establishment of a new Japanese studio belonging to Tencent’s affiliate Lightspeed Studios.
Now that Ryosuke Yoshida is directly associated with Square Enix, the company still maintains a few crucial team members from Visions of Mana on staff, should they choose to revise the game in the future. The game can be played globally on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Steam.
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2024-12-02 19:56