Yakuza producer confident in RGG’s ability to make games of any genre

Hiroyuki Sakamoto, the chief producer of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, has expressed confidence the studio can make enjoyable games in genres it has no experience with because of its focus on narrative.

This comes from a recent Game Informer interview where Sakamoto was asked how the studio is balancing the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games between the real-time beat ’em up and turned-based RPG genres. Although the series shifted from the former to the latter with 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7 in Japan), the most recent entry—Like a Dragon Gaiden—returned to the original beat ’em up style.

Sakamoto explained that RGG isn’t necessarily interested in keeping a balance and is more concerned that each game is “interesting in its own way, that is all that matters to us. What I am very conscious [of] is how attractive the new game should be.”

According to Sakamoto, narrative comes first and foremost and that determines the combat. “RGG Studio’s games are narrative games. We always think flat about the most enjoyable form of that narrative, which combat factors into,” he said. “Aside from combat, we have also made many styles of minigames, so we are confident that we can make an enjoyable game, even if it is in a genre we have never made before.”

This makes it sound like RGG is willing to tackle different genres as long as it suits the story. While there’s no guarantee the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series will undergo another genre shift or branch out into new kinds of spin-offs, the possibility certainly exists and is now rife for speculation.

There’s arguably already evidence of RGG experimenting with new genres within the games. Various minigames from across the series deviate greatly from the core gameplay. In the upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (aka Yakuza 8), there’s a Crazy Taxi-inspired minigame where you make food deliveries by bicycle and even an entire Animal Crossing-esque life sim.

Personally, I’d love to see the series’ karaoke rhythm minigame expanded into a full rhythm action game (think Theatrhythm Final Bar Line but with Yakuza/Like a Dragon music), but how about a traditional fighting game (2D or 3D) or a goofy Mario Party style party game? The future of the series is nebulous at the moment, with no confirmed projects beyond Infinite Wealth, so who knows what RGG is cooking behind the scenes?