Visions of Mana Developer Ouka Studios Reportedly Being Shut Down by Owner NetEase

Visions of Mana Developer Ouka Studios Reportedly Being Shut Down by Owner NetEase

As a gamer with over two decades of gaming experience under my belt, I must admit that the recent news about Visions of Mana and the potential closure of Ouka Studios has left me feeling rather disheartened. The Japanese game development scene has long been a source of some of my favorite experiences in the realm of video games.


Based on the announcement of Visions of Mana yesterday, it appears that developer Ouka Studios might face shutdown, due to NetEase’s withdrawal of investments in Japanese studios. This is allegedly because less profitable projects are being developed.

According to Bloomberg’s report, staff reductions have occurred at Ouka, with the possibility that the studio will eventually close down after all its ongoing games are finished and released. Meanwhile, Tencent, another Chinese company, seems reluctant to fund Japanese studios, preferring instead to back large-scale franchises over smaller, less risky projects.

Visions of Mana marks the return of a mainline Mana series after over a decade, but with it just released yesterday, we can’t yet determine if it will be successful or not according to current standards. If Bloomberg’s report is accurate, though, it seems that NetEase has decided the future of Ouka Studio, potentially adding it to the growing list of industry layoffs and studio closures.

Read More

2024-09-03 16:43

Previous post What’s happened to Javi in Snowpiercer? (Will he survive?)
Next post House of the Dragon star Abubakar Salim has a cool idea how to revive his canceled Max series Raised By Wolves