Visions of Mana director Ryosuke Yoshida has quit NetEase's Ouka Studios in order to join Square Enix following reports of extensive layoffs at the former.
In a message on social media platform X, Yoshida said that he quit Ouka Studios on October 31st, but that he's "grateful to the development team and NetEase for their support" in creating and releasing Visions of Mana.
Describing the process of making the game as "a very good experience", Yoshida then says he "joined Square Enix in December", pledging to "do [his] best to make a game that many people can enjoy".
The Visions of Mana director's message drew responses from the likes of Palworld community manager John "Bucky" Buckley, who said he's "looking forward to seeing what [Yoshida does] next", as well as Square Enix's Naoki Hamaguchi, who welcomed Yoshida to the company.
Yoshida's decision comes a few months after a report claiming that Ouka Studio, the developer of Visions of Mana, was hit by huge layoffs on the day of the game's release.
According to that report, "all but a handful" of developers at Ouka were laid off, and parent company NetEase was planning to close down the studio. Of course, Yoshida doesn't confirm or deny this report, but the timing of his departure seems appropriate if it's true.
Ouka's apparent shutdown may also be coming from the same place as NetEase's recent decision to pull funding from ex-BioWare writer Mac Walters' studio Worlds Untold, leading said studio to "pause operations" while it seeks an alternative source of funding.
It's also possible that Square Enix's willingness to hire Yoshida speaks to a desire for the studio to make a followup to Visions of Mana, so this might not be the last we hear of the franchise.
Of course, Square Enix itself hasn't been having the best year. Back in September, the studio admitted that both Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth "did not meet [its] expectations", and in April, it declared a $140m loss amid a major internal project shakeup.
As for Visions of Mana itself, the game is currently available for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox Series X|S. You can check out our review here.
