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Grasshopper Manufacture Is Independent Again
After five years under NetEase Games, Grasshopper Manufacture is going independent again. Founder and CEO Goichi “Suda51” Suda confirmed that the studio has separated from NetEase Games after discussions between the two companies, ending an arrangement that began when NetEase acquired Grasshopper in 2021.
The move comes several months after the release of Romeo is a Dead Man, Grasshopper’s latest characteristically strange action game and the studio’s first major release since No More Heroes III. For Suda51, finishing that project appears to have provided an opportunity to reconsider where Grasshopper goes next.
Suda51 Wants Grasshopper to Make a Wider Variety of Games
In an official statement announcing Grasshopper Manufacture’s independence, Suda explained that completing Romeo is a Dead Man prompted the team to reflect on the studio’s future. That ultimately led to a desire to create games across a “wider variety of styles”, with Grasshopper deciding that returning to independent development was the best way forward.
Importantly, there is no indication that the separation was acrimonious. Suda said the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase and thanked the company for its cooperation, adding that Grasshopper remains open to working with it again in the future.
That makes this less a dramatic break-up and more a change in how Grasshopper wants to operate after five years within a much larger organisation.
Self-Publishing Gives Grasshopper More Options
One particularly interesting part of Suda’s statement concerns publishing. Grasshopper has spent the past few years building its own self-publishing knowledge, leaving the studio with what Suda describes as a much broader range of options for future projects.
That experience could allow Grasshopper to publish more of its own games, work with outside partners where appropriate, or potentially mix both approaches depending on the project.
Whatever route it chooses, Suda says the studio will continue pursuing the distinctive style that has defined games such as Killer7, No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw. The latter has recently begun its own revival away from Grasshopper, with a new Lollipop Chainsaw game and anime project now in development.
Grasshopper Approaches Its 30th Anniversary
Grasshopper Manufacture was founded in 1998, putting its 30th anniversary in sight in 2028. Suda did not announce the studio’s next game as part of the independence news, so exactly what follows Romeo is a Dead Man remains unclear.
The wider context around NetEase is difficult to ignore, particularly as the company has been reassessing several international investments. There has been uncertainty surrounding Nagoshi Studio and the disappearance of its Gang of Dragon trailer, although Grasshopper itself has not connected its departure to any wider NetEase strategy.
What we do know is considerably simpler: Grasshopper Manufacture controls its own direction again, and after nearly three decades of making some of gaming’s stranger creations, Suda51 appears interested in making that freedom count.
