Yakuza veteran’s Nagoshi Studio has seemingly already changed its logo

Nagoshi Studio, the recently launched studio from Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, has registered a new logo.

As spotted by a VGC reader, the studio has filed the logo with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, where it is registered for computer games software, advertising, entertainment services and development of video and computer games.

It’s currently unclear if or when the studio plans to transition to the new logo, or if it will use it in conjunction with its existing logo (both pictured below).

Nagoshi Studio was founded earlier this year by veterans of the Yakuza series. The studio is a “wholly-owned subsidiary” of Chinese company NetEase Games, and will focus on developing “high-end titles for worldwide release”, primarily on consoles.

Nagoshi was initially joined by eight other staff members:

• Daisuke Sato (director and producer on the Yakuza series)
• Kazuki Hosokawa (designer who worked on Panzer Dragoon and Jet Set Radio, art director and designer of the Yakuza and Judgment games)
• Koji Tokieda (programmer who worked on Super Monkey Ball and F-Zero AX/GX, main programmer for Yakuza: Like a Dragon)
• Masao Shirosaki (designer who was a producer for games in the Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza series)
• Mitsunori Fujimoto (engineer who offered development support on Sega games since 1999)
• Naoki Someya (background designer for the Yakuza series and art director of the Judgment games)
• Toshihiro Ando (artist who was the lead character designer on the Judgment games)
• Taichi Ushioda (director who’s previously worked for Square Enix, Level-5 and Sega)

In an interview with Famitsu in January, Nagoshi confirmed that the studio had already started work on its first game, and that it will still have a Japanese focus much like the Yakuza and Judgment games.

“We’re Japanese, and we’re a Japanese studio, so naturally the market that we understand the most is Japan,” he explained.

“We’ve been desperately trying to find a methodology that would allow us to create something that would be accepted around the world while keeping our focus on Japan. However, I don’t think I have been able to give a complete answer to this question until now.

“In order to find the answer, to pursue the ideal, I created Nagoshi Studio. However, the focus will remain on Japan in the future.”