Since NetEase has turned off the money tap, the team behind the MMORPG project Ghost has to look for new investors. The search proves to be difficult. This is visibly affecting the mood of studio chief Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street.
What is the situation with Ghost? In 2023, Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street (former lead developer at Blizzard (for World of Warcraft) and Riot Games (LoL MMORPG)) founded the new studio Fantastic Pixel Castle to develop his own MMO. The funding was to be provided by the Chinese company NetEase.
In 2024, the official announcement of Project Ghost followed, which was at that time still in a very early conceptual phase. They wanted and still want to develop the best possible online role-playing game in collaboration with the community. In the meantime, selected individuals were able to play a first prototype, and some of the game’s classes were revealed.
The Chinese investor has been pursuing a cost-cutting strategy since February 2025, which has also affected many Western investments. In August 2025, there were first indications that Project Ghost might also be affected by this cost-cutting strategy. In October 2025, the certainty followed: The team from Fantastic Pixel Castle urgently needs new investors.
Ghostcrawler is frustrated and bitter
How is the search going so far? So far, apparently not fruitful. Just last week, studio chief Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street stated that they have already devised alternative plans to be more flexible in discussions with potential partners.
This includes, among other things, moving away from the actual MMO idea and developing a smaller multiplayer game that could be compared to Helldivers or Elden Ring. If this variant succeeds, they might still be able to build the MMO around it.
In a new post on linkedin.com, Ghostcrawler explained how frustrating the search is going. He even apologizes at the beginning for being a bit “salty,” meaning bitter and irritable, in the following lines. He continues:
I understand that in the video game business, almost no one is closing deals at the moment, and those that are happening are very small.
There are many reasons for this state, but one of the least forgivable is some of the massive investments in games or studios in recent years that have not succeeded. A fraction of that could have produced a lot of smaller games.
Ghostcrawler is particularly irritated by projects that have literally burned their money, “because the game vision kept changing, or the build was never stable, or playtests just weren’t fun, or there was constant turnover in the leadership.”
As a result, there is now no funding available for teams where the parameters look much better. Here is his assessment of Fantastic Pixel Castle:
- A team with a proven track record
- That works well together and has very high morale
- Without any leadership drama
- That has brought a game halfway through development
- Whose vision has not deviated and whose technology is very stable
- With hard data indicating that players love it and will play it
According to Street, it is very frustrating not to find a backer despite this strong starting position.
The developers of Project Ghost allowed a select few genre fans to play an early version of the MMORPG. YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes summarized his impressions in a lengthy video – and made an interesting comparison: Well-known YouTuber was allowed to play the new MMORPG by former WoW developers, makes unusual comparison to Elden Ring
