NetEase has acquired No More Heroes and Killer7 developer Grasshopper Manufacture, for an undisclosed sum.
The agreement was signed on May 31st, 2021.
Grasshopper Manufacture, which just celebrated its 23rd anniversary in March this year, is led by Goichi ‘Suda51’ Suda, and is responsible for cult hit titles such as Killer7, No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw.
“As we all know, NetEase Games has developed many excellent games in the past, and I have long been aware of NetEase’s creative capabilities,” said Suda. “When talking with NetEase about ‘developing more unique console games together’, we resonated. After a lot of thoughts, we’ve unanimously decided to ‘get together’ in the long term through deeper cooperation to create more good content for gamers.
“NetEase Games understands the strengths of Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. and is willing to support us, and is an extremely reliable partner. NetEase Games will be mainly responsible for advising on our business planning activities and providing sufficient funding for game development.”
According to Suda, Grasshopper Manufacture is “moving towards the brand-new future of game development, is now reborn and will continue to create history. Stay tuned.”
