Hiroyuki Kobayashi, known for his role as producer of the Resident Evil series, reveals that he is opening a new studio under the supervision of Chinese publisher NetEase. Kobayashi has worked as a producer on the Resident Evil series, was an executive producer on Resident Evil 6, and was originally a programmer at Capcom.

Kobayashi's new studio will be called GPTRACK50 and will be based in Osaka, Japan, while Kobayashi will serve as the president of the new company. The studio will be overseen by gaming giant NetEase. In addition to NetEase expanding further this year by acquiring studio Quantic Dream in a previous deal, NetEase also acquired No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture and also has deals with Blizzard.

In a new interview with IGN, Kobayashi explained his reasons for leaving Capcom and joining NetEase, as well as what he hopes to work on at his new studio. Kobayashi stated that he was looking for a new challenge when he left Capcom after 27 years and that the company is different. Much more so than when he started.

Now everything needs to be approved and things take longer to get approved, I kind of want to be able to offer a new experience while still feeling new, and I was thinking about setting up my own studio to make that possible.

After joining the studio, Kobayashi said he was pleased with the amount of creative freedom the company offers its developers. Kobayashi also explained that his first project will be an action game like Devil May Cry.