Things really aren’t looking good for Gang of Dragon, the Yakuza spiritual successor from former Sega and RGG Studios bigwig Toshihiro Nagoshi’s eponymous Nagoshi Studio. Between reports of publisher NetEase pulling financial backing and the studio’s YouTube channel vanishing-then-reappearing quietly in a seeming “no worries, everything is fine here” moment, fans eager to see more of Gang of Dragon after its The Game Awards debut last year have been feeling an ever-creeping dread about the game’s fate. Today the title had yet another very big, very visible setback … or rather, not-so-visible, because as of the time of writing, Nagoshi Studio’s website is completely offline.
Of course, there could be completely innocuous explanations for this–it’s the internet, and websites go down all the time for a variety of reasons–but given the circumstances, it’s difficult to assume everything is a-ok in Gang of Dragon-land. News about the game, aside from the reports of its funding woes, has completely dried up, and there’s been no reports of anyone swooping in to fund or acquire Nagoshi Studio in a valiant rescue. That’s not to say that it couldn’t happen, but all the signs point to Gang of Dragon–and its developer–vanishing without a trace (besides what’s left on the Internet Archive.)
At least with Stranger than Heaven’s recent reveal, Yakuza series fans still have something concrete with similar vibes to look forward to. As for Gang of Dragon, though, the only thing concrete about its fate seems to be cement shoes.