NetEase shuts down subsidiary Bad Brain Game Studios

Canada-based developer Bad Brain Game Studios has announced its closure.

The Netease subsidiary said it was unable to secure a new partner for its ongoing project codenamed Midnight Riders, and its last day of operation will be on November 17, 2025.

“We are deeply grateful to NetEase Games for their support and for giving us [a] runway to explore every possible opportunity,” said studio head Sean Crooks on LinkedIn.

“Our team poured everything into this journey — pushing creative and technical boundaries every day with passion, imagination, and craft. What we achieved together stands as lasting proof of this team’s extraordinary talent.”

Crooks noted that Midnight Riders and its “underlying IP” are available for acquisition or partnership, and that Bad Brain Game Studios and NetEase are “open to discussions with publishers or studios who see potential in continuing its development.”

“I want to extend my deepest gratitude once again to everyone who supported us along the way,” he added.

“Your encouragement and belief in what we were building meant the world to us. While this chapter is ending sooner than we had hoped, the spirit of what we created at Bad Brain will live on through the incredible people who made it possible.”

NetEase formed Bad Brain Game Studios in 2023, which included developers from Ubisoft Toronto.

It was NetEase’s second studio in Canada, following the acquisition of SkyBox Labs earlier that year.

Bad Brain Game Studios is the second NetEase subsidiary to be shuttered this week.

Fantastic Pixel Castle studio head Gregg Street confirmed the developer would close on the same day, November 17.

It was originally reported that NetEase was planning to divest the studio if it didn’t find a publisher or investor for its upcoming MMORPG codenamed Ghost.

Street said that “while there is still a chance [it] can secure funding after [the closure] date, it will depend on how much of the team remains.”

On Tuesday (November 4), former NetEase studio T-Minus Entertainment was acquired by a “small group of veteran directors and founders” after it closed its doors in September.