Visions of Mana director joins Square Enix following reported NetEase studio closure
Ryosuke Yoshida, the director of Visions of Mana, has announced he is joining Square Enix following reports of the closure of Ouka Studios earlier this year.
The details:
Yoshida has revealed that he left the NetEase-owned studio at the end of October and has now joined Square Enix, thanking NetEase and the Visions of Mana development team for their efforts. “On a personal note, I quit NetEase Ouka Studios on October 31,” Yoshida wrote on X. “We were a new studio, but we were able to release Visions of Mana. I am grateful to the development team and NetEase for their support. It was a very good experience. Thank you all.I am happy to announce that I joined Square Enix in December. I will do my best to make a game that many people can enjoy!”
Yoshida's new role at Square Enix is currently unknown, as is his involvement in any ongoing or new projects. Given the positive reception to Visions of Mana, he could find himself involved in another future entry.
Square Enix owns the Mana series, which began with the Game Boy title Final Fantasy Adventure. Visions of Mana is the series' first mainline release since Dawn of Mana in 2006, and it is also the first installment to be developed outside of Square aside from its various spin-offs.
It was reported in August that NetEase had cut almost all positions at Ouka and planned to close the studio entirely, despite the developer having only released one title since its founding in 2020. The tech giant is one of China's largest game companies, but that hasn't stopped it from continuing to cut costs by reducing its investments in Japanese game developers, laying off staff, closing studios, and even withdrawing funding from BioWare veteran-led developer Worlds Untold.
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