Grasshopper Manufacture has announced that it has parted way with parent company NetEase and is now once again an independent developer.

NetEase acquired Grasshopper back in 2021, but after a string of acquisitions, the company has since pulled back from its investments, closing down a number of studios and withdrawing funding from big projects, including Toshihiro Nagoshi’s Gang of Dragon.

So in a new statement, Grasshopper, which previously developed the likes of No More Heroes III, Killer7, and Shadows of the Damned, said that it “has chosen to move forward with as an independent developer once again”.

Here’s a look at the full statement from CEO Goichi Suda (Suda51):

This past February, Grasshopper Manufacture released its latest title, Romeo Is A Dead Man, and celebrated its 28th anniversary in March. Thanks to the support of players worldwide, Romeo Is A Dead Man received high acclaim and great reviews. Our whole studio would like to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who enjoyed the game, and to everyone who worked tirelessly toward making its release possible.

Having finally completed this all-hands project, as we reflected on the next stage of Grasshopper Manufacture’s future, we found a strong desire to deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles to video game lovers everywhere. As such, Grasshopper Manufacture has chosen to move forward with as an independent developer once again.

This decision was reached after thorough discussions with NetEase Games, and with their generous cooperation. We continue to cherish the amazing relationship our companies built, and look forward to further collaboration when the opportunity arises. Having improved our own self-publishing know-how, we now have a broad range of options available to us, and regardless of how our games may be published, we remain committed to creating unique titles featuring the “NO GAME NO LIFE” gaming experience expected of Grasshopper Manufacture with our own signature flavor and further enhanced quality.

We hope you will continue to watch over Grasshopper Manufacture as we make this next leap forward and move on to our upcoming 30 th anniversary and beyond. We sincerely hope for and deeply appreciate your ongoing support for our studio and the titles we will create in the future.

Goichi Suda, Representative Director & CEO

Grasshopper’s latest title, Romeo is a Dead Man, is reportedly set to receive a Switch 2 release in the future, though the current status of this is unknown. It was, however, self-published by Grasshopper, so we still have hope that it will see the light of day on Nintendo’s console.