No More Heroes and Killer7 developers Grasshopper Manufacture have split from erstwhile parent company NetEase, founder Goichi “Suda51” Suda has announced. NetEase bought them back in 2021, as part of the acquisition of Gungho Online Entertainment. Now, they’re going indie. According to Suda, the change reflects “a strong desire to deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles to video game lovers everywhere”.

NetEase have yet to comment on the deal. I can’t see any pressing reason they’d want to be rid of Grasshopper Manufacture – the publisher have cut back in recent years, pulling funding from Toshihiro Nagoshi’s Gang of Dragon this March and shutting down T-Minus Zero last September, but they seem happy with their latest financial results. Mind you, Grasshopper have yet to share any sales figures for the studio’s recent, curry-powered Romeo is a Dead Man, which is rarely a sign that you’re stuffing the parent company CEO’s mouth with banknotes.

“This decision was reached after thorough discussions with NetEase Games, and with their generous cooperation,” Suda comments in the release. “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,” he goes on, “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.”

This is the first I’ve heard of the “NO GAME NO LIFE” maxim, but I confess, I’m more of a Grasshopper admirer than a Grasshopper lover. I appreciate the variety and inventiveness of their games, which also include mystery adventure The Silver Case, journo-horror outing Michigan: Report from Hell, and the gory cheerleader sim Lollipop Chainsaw, but I’ve always bounced off them like some kind of delicate, nimble insect with powerful thighs, maybe a cricket?

Still, it’s always nice to hear of a studio regaining full autonomy, rather than being shut down, bled dry or forcibly combined with another studio. Here is what James thought of Grasshopper’s latest, from our review: “Romeo is a Dead Man begins as a chaotic mishmash of visual styles and storytelling ideas, and ends as an assured hack ‘n’ slash whose oddness works in its favour.” Here’s hoping the oddness carries on working in Grasshopper’s favour.