Veteran Director Launches Independent Studio to Foster Creative Protection

Following his departure from Ouka Studios, which was owned by NetEase and ceased operations last year soon after the release of Visions of Mana by Square Enix, former co-director Kenji Ozawa has now founded Studio Sasanqua. In an interview with Automaton, Ozawa emphasized that a key goal of the new studio is to ensure that management prioritizes the protection and support of its creators, aiming to promote a sense of security and value among staff. By personally funding the studio, Ozawa has expressed his willingness to personally bear the responsibility for any project failures, rather than shifting the blame to the development team. This approach is motivated by his past experiences, where he witnessed some studios unfairly placing excessive responsibility and blame on individual developers for mistakes that were often the result of poor management. The studio is initially focusing on developing smaller-scale projects using Unreal Engine, with long-term plans to create original intellectual properties for PC and console platforms. Meanwhile, Ryosuke Yoshida, the co-director of Visions of Mana, joined Square Enix in December.