Fantastic Pixel Castle, the studio behind the slowly developing Project Ghost MMO, is one of many studios that have financial backing from NetEase, so it’s easy to feel a fair amount of concern given the Chinese megacorp appears to be in a retreat from overseas investment and support. As a result, FPC has stepped forth to join other NetEase-backed studios in the west to reassure fans that things will be all right.
An email sent to Polygon by studio head Greg Street promises that FPC is “aggressively working” on Ghost and that the studio is “in a stronger position now because NetEase has clearly been evaluating their portfolio and decided our game is one they want to focus on.” Street also mentioned that a public playtest for the MMO is scheduled for this week, though its Twitter account hasn’t shared details yet at the time of this writing.
Assurances from FPC join others that promise NetEase isn’t halting ongoing projects, including Rebel Wolves and Anchor Point Studios, both of which are creating an ARPG and an action-adventure game respectively. NetEase itself also reiterated its promise to maintain western dev support after Bloomberg’s recent report, saying in part, “NetEase has not wavered in its global expansion plans. Our ‘two-pronged’ approach (combining self-research and investments to explore global markets), is still actively progressing and yielding positive results.”
