NetEase Games acquires 'No More Heroes' series developer, Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
Best known for developing games like No More Heroes Series, LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW and killer 7, Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. has been integrated into China-based NetEase Games (Identity V, LifeAfter, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT). The acquisition, under an equity transfer agreement signed on May 31st, 2021, was made public today for an undisclosed sum. NetEase Games maintains that the acquisition will support the developer in the following aspects:
- Creative freedom: Creators can create games in the theme and gameplay style about which they are most passionate.
- Managerial autonomy: Creators have full authority to manage their own teams.
- Incentives for success: Providing creators with a worry-free environment allowing them to fully focus on creation.
Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. has just celebrated its 23rd anniversary in March this year. For the past 23 years, our team of creators with various backgrounds and personalities have presented a variety of games to gamers. We are now given a unique opportunity to rethink the game development and organization structure of Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. moving forward. While understanding our own advantages and unique position, we were presented with new possibilities in game creation.
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. 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. We will be responsible for the creativity and production of games to ensure that we are able to continue to maintain the consistent "Grasshopper Manufacture flavor" and game quality for which we are known. In addition, we will also receive strong support from the NetEase team composed of thousands of artists and technical experts in terms of game art and quality assurance. We will make the most of this support and strive to offer three even higher-quality "Grasshopper Manufacture Games" to all gamers in the next ten years.
Grasshopper Manufacture Inc., moving towards the brand-new future of game development, is now reborn and will continue to create history. Stay tuned.