'Yakuza' creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is reportedly leaving Sega after 32 years to join NetEase.
According to Bloomberg, the Sega creative director - who joined the Japanese video games giant in 1989 and was Sega's chief creative officer until 2021 when took on his new position - is in "final negotiations" with the Chinese technology company to join in an as-yet unknown role.
The report claims that Nagoshi is “expected to set up his own team and create new games”.
Nagoshi's crowning achievement is creating the 'Yakuza' action-adventure franchise, which began in 2005, but he also worked on hit titles such as 'Sega Rally', 'Monkey Ball', 'Daytona USA', 'Virtua Fighter' and 'F-Zero GX'.
NetEase's video game library includes the 'Westward Journey' series, 'Tianxia III', 'Heroes of Tang Dynasty Zero' and 'Ghost II'.
In 2008, NetEase partnered with Blizzard Entertainment to operate the Chinese versions of their games which includes 'World Of Warcraft', 'Overwatch', 'Diablo III' and 'Starcraft II'.
