A New Chapter: Kenji Ozawa Launches a Fresh Studio Post-NetEase

Visions of Mana co-director Kenji Ozawa has founded a new studio called Sasanqua.

Ozawa has launched Sasanqua just a few months after leaving NetEase-owned Ouka Studio, which was allegedly facing termination as of August 2024.

In a discussion with Automaton about his new venture, Ozawa detailed that Sasanqua will initially focus on smaller-scale projects utilizing Unreal Engine. Ultimately, he aspires to create larger PC and console games.

Ozawa told Automaton that Sasanqua aims to “support creators” and emphasized that he is willing to take accountability if projects falter due to poor management.

He expressed that he was inspired to establish the studio after witnessing mismanagement directly—and feels it’s unfair that developers often bear the consequences of decisions made by corporate executives.

This information comes at a time when Ozawa’s former employer, NetEase, has recently chosen to lay off several Marvel Rivals developers in the US shortly after the game gained over 40 million players.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the Chinese conglomerate has discreetly reduced its global operations in recent months following a series of investments in overseas studios.

According to that report, NetEase informed Game Developer that it remains committed to supporting its studios worldwide, but mentioned that some structural changes will be “essential” moving forward.

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