Suda51’s Grasshopper Manufacture acquired by NetEase

NetEase Games has acquired Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio led by games design auteur Goichi “Suda51” Suda, and maker of games and franchises like No More Heroes, Killer7, and Lollipop Chainsaw. The two companies announced the acquisition via news release on Thursday.

“As we all know, NetEase Games has developed many excellent games in the past, and I have long been aware of NetEase’s creative capabilities.” Suda said in a statement from the studio. “After a lot of thoughts, we’ve unanimously decided to ‘get together’ in the long term through deeper cooperation to create more good content for gamers.”

Grasshopper Manufacture was acquired by publisher GungHo Online Entertainment in 2013. In NetEase, the studio joins a massive internet and technology company, headquartered in China, which develops and operates PC and mobile games like the Westward Journey series.

“We hope to give the studio creative freedom and sufficient resource support in order to empower said studio to create even more sensational works for gamers worldwide,” NetEase said in its statement.