Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi Suda announced Wednesday that the studio is splitting from its owner NetEase Games and will once again operate as an independent developer.

Suda framed the decision as the outcome of an internal review conducted after the studio completed development on Romeo Is A Dead Man, its upcoming action adventure game. The studio concluded it wanted to "deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles to video game lovers everywhere."

"As such, Grasshopper Manufacture has chosen to move forward as an independent developer," Suda wrote.

The split followed "thorough discussions with NetEase Games," according to Suda. He did not disclose the financial terms of the separation.

What changes for the studio

For Grasshopper Manufacture, the move restores a publishing posture the studio has not held in over a decade. Suda said the NetEase years gave the team operational experience it now intends to leverage.

"Having improved our own self-publishing know-how, we now have a broad range of options available to us, and regardless of how our games may be published we remain committed to creating unique titles featuring the 'NO GAME NO LIFE' gaming experience expected of Grasshopper Manufacture with our own signature flavor and further enhanced quality," he wrote.

That phrasing signals Grasshopper will evaluate publishing arrangements title by title rather than commit to a single distribution path. Studios in a comparable position typically weigh first-party platform deals, co-publishing agreements and full self-publishing across PC and console storefronts against the marketing and funding support a large publisher provides.

Ownership history

The No More Heroes developer spent five years under NetEase Games, which acquired the studio in 2021. Before that, Grasshopper Manufacture was part of GungHo Group. The studio has now cycled through two corporate owners and returned to the independent status it held when Suda founded it in 1998.

The timing places the transition ahead of a milestone: the studio's 30th anniversary, which falls in 2028. Suda pointed to that horizon directly.

"We hope you will continue to watch over Grasshopper Manufacture as we make this next leap forward and move on to our upcoming 30th anniversary and beyond," Suda wrote. "We sincerely hope for and deeply appreciate your ongoing support for our studio and the titles we will create in the future."

Context for the industry

The separation adds another data point to a shifting relationship between Chinese publishers and Japanese independent studios. NetEase acquired Grasshopper in 2021 as part of a broader investment push into overseas development talent. A divestment after five years, on reportedly amicable terms, suggests both parties concluded the arrangement had served its purpose — Grasshopper leaving with stronger self-publishing capabilities, NetEase exiting an investment in a mid-sized auteur studio.

For a studio of Grasshopper's size and creative profile, independence means bearing its own publishing, localization and marketing costs. It also means retaining full IP control and the freedom to pursue the broader stylistic range Suda described.

What remains unclear is how Romeo Is A Dead Man — the project that preceded and prompted the ownership review — will be published, and under what label. Expect clarity on Grasshopper's publishing partners and release plans as the studio formalizes its independent operations.