Visions Of Mana Releases To High Praise, But NetEase Plans To Close The Dev Studio

According to a report in Bloomberg, NetEase is seemingly on the verge of closing down Ouka Studios, developer of the latest entry in the storied Mana video game franchise. Visions of Mana, which released earlier this week, has received mostly positive reviews, although that doesn’t seem to be enough to stave off the closure of the studio. Only a few staff members will remain as the studio’s last games are released, after which it will be closed.

It’s part of a shift in strategy by Chinese game companies that invested heavily in Japanese video game makers. One of the biggest issues has stemmed from a “mismatch in ambition.” While firms such as Tencent and NetEase were looking for AAA hits to make a splash in the Chinese and global market, Japanese developers wanted to work on smaller scale projects with less risk.


Moreover, the video game industry has been dealing with new market realities compared to what it looked like in 2020 when these Chinese companies started investing in Japanese studios. Layoffs and studio closures have been a dominant theme over the last 18 months, so it’s not too surprising that this is now affecting NetEase’s decision to close down Ouka Studios.

Black Myth: Wukong’s meteoric rise in the sales charts will also play a role in how Chinese game companies choose where to invest in the future. Seeing that local game studios are capable of producing smash hits will likely encourage these companies to look inward for new opportunities to make the next AAA blockbuster.

Hopefully the closure of Ouka Studios doesn’t mean the end of the Mana franchise, and that fans can look forward to the next entry of this beloved franchise sometime in the future.