Grasshopper Manufacture is independent again. Studio head Goichi "Suda51" Suda announced on September 30, 2026, that the No More Heroes and Killer7 developer is splitting from NetEase Games, with the separation taking effect October 1. The move ends a five-year ownership run that produced exactly one game.
NetEase acquired Grasshopper in 2021, taking over from GungHo Online Entertainment, which had owned the studio since 2015. Suda founded Grasshopper in 1998, and the studio built its reputation on cult action titles like Killer7, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Shadows of the Damned long before either publisher came knocking.
Five years, one game
Under NetEase, Grasshopper shipped a single title: Romeo Is A Dead Man, an action-adventure game that launched February 11, 2026, on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. Reviews split on it. Critics singled out the narrative and boss encounters as highlights, but at least one major outlet landed on a 6/10, and the overall reception stayed mixed rather than a clear hit.
A five-year ownership window that produced one release is a thin track record. The split lands in the direct aftermath of that game's muted reception, timed alongside the studio's 28th anniversary.
An amicable exit, door left open
Suda framed the split as a deliberate choice. The studio's statement says the decision came after "thorough discussions with NetEase Games, and with their generous cooperation," following internal reflection after Romeo Is A Dead Man shipped. Grasshopper added that it wants to "deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles to video game lovers everywhere," language that reads as a studio reclaiming creative range rather than one fleeing a bad deal.
Both sides have characterized the separation as amicable. Grasshopper's statement says the companies "continue to cherish the amazing relationship" they built and look forward to working together again "when the opportunity arises." The split came without lawsuits or public finger-pointing, and no new project has been announced to replace what NetEase was funding.
Why this one stands out
Most of the traffic between major Chinese publishers and Western or Japanese development talent has run in one direction over the past several years: acquisition. NetEase itself, alongside Tencent and others, has spent heavily acquiring stakes in or outright owning studios abroad, the same kind of publisher that also runs the mobile live-service and gacha catalog this site covers closely. A studio walking away from that kind of backing, without a buyer lined up, runs against the grain.
For Grasshopper, going independent again means full creative control but no corporate balance sheet behind it. Suda has steered the studio through ownership changes before, from GungHo to NetEase, so he's done this once already. This time, Grasshopper exits with no confirmed project and no publisher lined up as its next home.
The question now is what gets announced first: a new game, a new publishing partner, or a return to self-funded, smaller-scale releases in the vein of Grasshopper's pre-acquisition era. Suda51 has given no timeline. Until something surfaces, Grasshopper Manufacture is, once again, just Grasshopper Manufacture.
