GreaterThan Group’s Bold Gambit: Fueling ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic’ and Reviving Creative Game Development

How Simon Zhu’s $100M investment is reshaping the industry’s future by empowering veteran creators

On May 12, 2026, former NetEase investment chief Simon Zhu launched GreaterThan Group with $100 million to back undervalued game studios. Its flagship project: ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic,’ a narrative-driven RPG led by Casey Hudson’s Arcanaut Studios. This feature explores the fund’s mission, industry context, and what it means for the future of creative game development.

A Strategic Rebound: Simon Zhu’s Vision for GreaterThan Group

On May 12, 2026, Simon Zhu—former president of global investments and partnerships at NetEase—announced the launch of GreaterThan Group, a holding company backed by $100 million in capital, including $40 million in cash and $60 million in committed funds . His departure from NetEase in 2025 followed a sweeping pullback by the Chinese tech giant from gaming investments, which led to cancellations and studio closures—including projects Zhu had helped nurture . Zhu positions GreaterThan as a corrective force in an industry he believes has overcompensated by chasing AI trends at the expense of creative craftsmanship. “You can have player satisfaction. You can have commercial success. You can have the achievement of art,” he told Bloomberg. “Let’s give the best creator the opportunity to work on a dream project. Everyone wins.” .

Funding ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic’: A Dream Project Realized

GreaterThan’s marquee investment is in Arcanaut Studios’ upcoming RPG, Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic—a spiritual successor to the beloved Knights of the Old Republic series. Directed by original KotOR and Mass Effect veteran Casey Hudson, the game was first revealed at The Game Awards 2025 and has since gained traction as a high-profile return to narrative-driven Star Wars RPGs . Arcanaut, founded in July 2025 and based in Edmonton, brings together former BioWare veterans and industry talents from Microsoft, Epic Games, ZeniMax, and Remedy . With GreaterThan’s backing, the project now has financial runway and creative freedom. Hudson aims for a release before 2030, emphasizing replayability and narrative depth over sheer size—“bigger isn’t necessarily better” . Notably, Hudson has taken a firm stance against AI in the creative process, calling it “creatively soulless” and expressing skepticism about its role in game development . He also plans to maintain a lean core team, supplemented by contractors, to avoid the bureaucratic bloat that has hampered large studios in the past .