Toshihiro Nagoshi has discussed the new project he’s working on and the reason for his departure from Sega.
Nagoshi, known as the father of the Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza series, left Sega in 2021 after 32 years at the company to join Chinese technology company NetEase. He later announced Nagoshi Studio, a subsidiary under NetEase Games, which would allow him to “do something different”.
In an interview with German gaming site 4Players, Nagoshi said it had not been creative differences that had led him to leave Sega, but that during his last few years at the company he was promoted to executive and management roles – something he wasn’t interested in.
“I said to the current owner, ‘Guys, I don’t want to be the CEO of Sega here’,” Nagoshi recalled. “I’m a player and a game maker, I want to continue to push my career in that way,” he said, adding that Sega was instead pushing him towards management.