It looks like the Chinese-based technological company NetEase is looking to add to its already massive video game portfolio. The company has announced that it has officially established brand new video game studio, GPTRACK50, which will be based out of Osaka, Japan. The studio will be led by one of the most prolific video game producers in history, Capcom’s former producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi. Kobayashi revealed back in August that he had departed Capcom after more than 27 to join NetEase, and now we know what they’ve been up to all this time.
Kobayashi states that he is looking forward to the experience in running a studio with NetEase as great partner in helping create new IPs. “With the support and respect from NetEase in understanding me and my team’s development achievements and values, I will build a stronger team with the goal of creating more original quality contents that will satisfy users around the world.” NetEase themselves stated that the main goal of GPTRACK50 is to “create original IPs that would impress the whole world.” They also add that Kobayashi’s experience will be integral to the success of their newest endeavor.
Experience is definitely something that Kobayashi has in the industry. As we mentioned earlier, he spent 27 years as a producer on some of Capcom’s biggest titles. This includes Dino Crisis, Devil May Cry, and the Dragon Dogma franchise. He’s also one of the original programmers on Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, as well as being the main producer for the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 4 which is widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time. On top of all that, Kobayashi was also a producer and a planning supervisor for many of the anime ports for the aforementioned franchises.
In short, if NetEase wanted someone who knows what they’re doing, they’ve arguably found the best possible person for the job. This is also one of many moves by the company this year when acquiring new talent and studios. They’ve also established the new studio Nagoshi Studio with the creator of the Yakuza franchise Toshihiro Nagoshi, as well as acquired the developer Quantic Dream, who released the popular titles Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human.