The Chinese company NetEase appears to continue in cost-saving mode. Now the next ambitious MMORPG project from the West is to receive less funding.
Which project is it? It is about “Project Ghost” from the studio Fantastic Pixel Castle, which was founded by former WoW Lead Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street. According to a report from bloomberg.com, the Chinese publisher NetEase intends to cut the originally planned funding package.
NetEase itself states in a statement that it is standard industry practice to “evaluate the progress, profitability, and potential success of all games and studios and make decisions based on these business considerations.”
The management team at Fantastic Pixel Castle is reportedly already trying to reduce its own costs. However, the exact impact of the cuts is currently unclear, as NetEase has not yet wanted to provide specific figures.
The first class presented from the MMORPG Ghost:
Billionaire on a cost-cutting path
Why the savings at NetEase? As early as February 2025, MeinMMO reported on cost-cutting measures that had been implemented by the Chinese company. Affected were, among others, the developers of Marvel Rivals, despite the strong launch in December 2024.
However, it seems that the US studio Jackalyptic Games, founded by industry veteran Jack Emmert (Neverwinter Online, Star Trek Online, City of Heroes), has also been hit. There, the new MMORPG based on Warhammer has been in development for several years. The major financial backer behind the project? NetEase. But even here, reports emerged in February 2025 that the developers are searching for new funding sources.
William Ding, CEO and founder of NetEase (and billionaire), announced at the time he intended to cut numerous positions, close studios, halt projects, and reduce international investments. But not only NetEase is working to save costs. In July, a major wave of layoffs shook the entire industry: Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees to position gaming for lasting success
