As 2026 begins, another once-promising anime-style game company has fallen silent. The developer of "Moonlight Elegance," a title once seen as a potential contender in the Chinese-style gaming genre competing with "Food Fantasy," Shanghai Suhe Mao'an Network Technology Co., Ltd., has reportedly descended into severe operational and legal turmoil.

Launched in May 2024, the game ceased updates after less than half a year of operation. Its servers have since gone offline without any official announcement from the company. Behind the scenes, Suhe Mao'an and its affiliated companies have accumulated millions in yuan in enforced payments due to defaults on employee salaries, marketing fees, and outsourcing costs. Core members of the founding team have publicly split and are engaged in mutual lawsuits.

The fall of this former capital darling: from investments by Tencent and Sequoia to enforced executions.

The founder of Suhe Mao'an, known as "Daodao," is a serial entrepreneur whose primary entity, "Bobo and Friends (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd.," previously managed several brand projects. Despite the company's official bio humorously noting "few successes but many failures," it initially enjoyed smooth sailing in capital markets. Leveraging its foundation in anime communities and focus on the female-oriented game segment, the company secured investments from Yuanqi Capital, Advantage Capital, and Digital Sky Technologies, later attracting top-tier backers like Tencent and Sequoia China.

However, this capital infusion failed to translate into product success. The company's first self-developed otome game, "Love Me! Idol," was delisted in 2020 after just one year of operation. "Moonlight Elegance," greenlit in 2021 with high hopes, underwent a three-year development cycle and even enlisted a former art designer from the "Fate/Grand Order" production team as lead artist.

Yet, the game's commercial performance post-launch was dismal, only briefly cracking the top 200 in iOS card game free charts. This failure quickly dragged the company into crisis. Starting in 2025, affiliated companies faced multiple lawsuits over unpaid wages, game promotion fees, and art outsourcing costs. Since 2025, the company has been subject to 27 enforced executions (including resumed executions), and its founder, Yang Haibo, has been placed under 16 high-consumption restrictions.

Product positioning confusion leads to a "sudden death" after just six months.

"Moonlight Elegance" focused on Chinese aesthetics and personifying classical poetry and art, aiming to capture a share of the market pioneered by "Food Fantasy" and "Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu." Its unique art style in the initial promotional video attracted 540,000 followers on TapTap, with related videos amassing 4.55 million views on Weibo.

However, the game's confused product positioning proved fatal after launch. Insiders revealed the project attempted to cater to both genders, using female-oriented tags on Bilibili while incorporating significant "boys' love" content into the storyline, which alienated core users. Players also criticized the official operators for arbitrarily modifying plot details post-launch, only apologizing after being discovered, precisely hitting user sensitivities. The storyline itself was criticized for including melodramatic, short-drama style tropes and inconsistent character behavior, severely undermining immersion.

Under the dual blows of product quality and operational missteps, the game stopped content updates within six months. Despite player demands for updates, the official channels remained silent. By early 2026, players found the servers inaccessible, likely due to unpaid fees, yet the company has still not issued any closure announcement.

Founder's live stream breakdown leads to legal battle with lead artist.

After updates ceased, internal conflicts at Suhe Mao'an surfaced. At the end of 2024, the company's founder attempted to address "absconding" rumors via a live stream on the official account but inadvertently sparked greater controversy. Faced with comments about unpaid salaries and defaulted outsourcing fees, the founder lost composure, accusing critics of being "henchmen" of the former lead artist and confirming their split.

The former lead artist swiftly countered these claims. According to her account, she was living overseas and was "lured back" to China by promises of a 15 million yuan budget, competition with top-tier products, and a one-year launch timeline. Upon returning, she was tasked not only with art direction but also project management, narrative demands, and even combat design. She alleged the company owed nearly three months of wages to employees and fees to domestic and international artists, with over 330,000 yuan owed to her personally.

The dispute culminated in court. The former lead artist sued the founder for defamation, winning the case in September 2025. While this verdict provided a temporary conclusion to the year-long internal strife, the fallout remains unresolved. In February 2026, Yang Haibo faced another high-consumption restriction for failing to pay a 5,750 yuan obligation.

The aftermath and players clinging to the ruins.

Today, Suhe Mao'an leaves behind a mess. Affiliated entities have been listed as enforced debtors due to multiple lawsuits, core team members have parted ways, and the once-highly anticipated "Moonlight Elegance" is now an inaccessible relic. Ironically, many players still linger in the game's super topics on various social platforms, hoping for a revival.

Industry analysts note that Suhe Mao'an's collapse is a classic case of the bursting bubble in the anime-style game sector. During the peak of capital enthusiasm, a mere concept or promotional video could attract top institutional backing. But as the tide receded, teams lacking stable product development capabilities and suffering from internal chaos inevitably faced market elimination. For players, it represents another disappointing end where passion was ultimately betrayed.