Nagoshi Studio might not make it considering the fact that they deleted their Youtube channel. This indicates that there is nothing that will save Gang of Dragon considering all the issues its going through, we can assume this one will be shortly cancelled in some days. This comes as very sad news considering many people had hope this would span a new movement of Yakuza-like games with more focus on plot rather than the sandbox aspects of it. I really wish something could be done but cutting the funding literally feels like killing the project altogether.
Nagoshi Studio is in trouble
It is believed that the whole studio will cease to exist quite soon, considering that Gang of Dragon won’t be coming out. Some theorize that this is because Nagoshi Studio had a bad deal with the finance entity behind the game, while others think the person behind it was a hack. I do not believe Nagoshi was lying, as the game looks quite good from the gameplay shots available, some reviewers who are playing very early builds agree with the notion too. I personally believe that what happened here is that Nagoshi Studio got rugpulled by the only ones who could help them.
This is some sad news, but expected, cuts like this happen constantly in the medium when there is no faith in a project and while Gang of Dragon looked amazing at the end of the day it was more serious Yakuza with a more narrative focus. Perhaps the investors didn’t like where this was going and decided to pull the plug, regardless, if this is what Nagoshi Studio wanted to make, and they have the passion to do so I feel like they might end up finding another way to finish the game if builds for it remain, time will tell.