[Rumor] Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza series) would leave SEGA and join NetEase

Here comes the second bomb today: according to Bloomberg, Toshihiro Nagoshi (creator of the Yakuza series) is negotiating his departure from SEGA to join NetEase, the famous Chinese game developer.

This is important news because Nagoshi is the creator of the Yakuza series and he is part of SEGA since 1989. The developer worked on such important IPs as Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Super Monkey Ball, or Virtua Fighter among others. Today, in fact, Nagoshi is a very important part of SEGA.

Bloomberg says that while Nagoshi “hasn’t signed a final contract and his duties have yet to be finalized”, he is going to be “is expected to set up his own team and create new games”.

This negotiation between Nagoshi and NetEase could be a move by the Chinese company to challenge the growth of rival Tencent.

Stay tuned.

Via | Kotaku