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Visions of Mana co-director opens Studio Sasanqua following NetEase fallout

After Ouka Studios' staff was laid off and the studio was ultimately closed, designer Kenji Ozawa wants his new studio to prioritize developers' well-being.

TJ Denzer

March 4, 2025 11:40 AM

Image via Studio Sasanqua

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Visions of Mana co-director and former Ouka Studio lead Kenji Ozawa has opened the doors of a new studio this week. Following the aftermath of Ouka’s closure under NetEase closely following Visions of Mana’s launch, Studio Sasanqua was launched by Ozawa and his fellow devs with the goal of prioritizing developers’ well-being.

Studio Sasanqua opened up with a trailer and a new Japanese website this week. The studio is being directed by Kenji Ozawa, who served as a lead at Ouka. When many were laid off at Ouka shortly following Visions of Mana’s release Ozawa shared open discontent at the way things turned out and also resigned from the studio, after which it was shortly closed. Under Sasanqua, Ozawa hopes to keep what happened to Ouka Studios from happening again where he is involved.

Studio Sasanqua is reportedly being funded by Kenji Ozawa himself, and runs on the priority that “management needs to protect creators.” Indeed, NetEase has been notorious for its layoffs lately. Ouka Studios saw layoffs shortly after Visions of Mana launched to high critical praise last year, but more recently, NetEase also laid off its entire Seattle support team that was aiding the monstrously popular Marvel Rivals.

With Studio Sasanqua having little more than the trailer to show right now, stay tuned for what comes next and any game announcements from the developers, right here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.