Grasshopper Manufacture, now independent of Netease Games as of the beginning of October, has been seeking to define what its trajectory will be without the benefit of that financial backing. Suda51, the studio’s founder, sat down with a number of Japanese outlets to discuss the future of the company, how plans have changed since it went independent, and the future of its No More Heroes series.

According to Suda51, one of the biggest shifts that will occur as a result of this independence and lack of financial backing is in the scale of the games the studio will be capable of developing. Under NetEase, the company had promised to develop three large games within 10 years, with February’s Romeo Is a Dead Man being one of these. These plans will have to be adapted, he explains in an interview with 4Gamer. “That was a plan we made based on a promise given to NetEase at the time, so that will have to change,” he said, adding, “As an independent studio it’s now possible to take on various jobs. I want to not just work on my own titles, but also on various interesting IPs.” Speaking to Famitsu in a separate interview, he even mentions two series he’d love to work with: Mobile Suit Gundam and Marvel’s Deadpool.

Suda51 admits that it’s a difficult time to become independent. The company handled promotion and the release of Romeo Is a Dead Man in-house, even though it had initially been planned as a NetEase work.

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