Amid NetEase unease, devs funded by company speak up to say Were OK
www.polygon.com
In the wake of recent reports of Chinese publisher NetEase pulling funding and cancelling games, some studios funded by the maker of Marvel Rivals and Eggy Party have spoken up to calm fears that they too might be affected. Over the weekend, veteran game designer Greg Street of Fantastic Pixel Castle, which is making an MMORPG with NetEase, said his studio is still working on its game, still hiring, and has a great relationship with NetEase and their full support.Other NetEase-backed studios are reporting similar status updates. Tomasz Tinc, co-owner and chief publishing officer at Rebel Wolves, indicated on LinkedIn that he does not expect NetEases retreat from overseas studios to affect development of The Blood of Dawnwalker, an action role-playing game.The Blood of Dawnwalkers production is fully funded, Tinc wrote, and we work alongside our partners and friends from Bandai Namco, our games global publisher, to bring the first chapter of the Dawnwalker saga to life.Tinc explained that NetEase is a minority shareholder in Rebel Wolves, and that the vast majority of the studios ownership rests in the hands of Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and other studio co-owners, all of whom are employed by Rebel Wolves.Paul Ehreth, creative director at Anchor Point Studios, said Monday on Linkedin that his studio has not been affected and is still full steam ahead building our game. Anchor Point is developing an unannounced action-adventure game.So far, NetEase has been a great partner for us, giving us creative control and development support, and we look forward to the prospect of shipping an exceptional game together in the future, Ehreth wrote. While it may be stormy seas at the moment for the industry, we are very much still growing, and we have several positions open for anyone looking for a safe harbor.In an email to Polygon, Greg Street said that Fantastic Pixel Castle is aggressively working on its MMORPG Ghost, adding, I feel like we are in a stronger position now because NetEase has clearly been evaluating their portfolio and decided our game is one they want to focus on. A public playtest for Ghost is scheduled for this week, Street said.While NetEase may be scaling back, it appears that some international projects may come to fruition as planned.
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