Veteran Yakuza dev praises Sega for not settling for "safe" games: "It accepts the possibility of failure"

In a bumper year for gaming, one of 2024's more surprising success stories has been Sega, largely thanks to the Yakuza series from RGG Studio, whose director himself credits their success in part to Sega's willingness to take risks.

In an interview with Famitsu, translated by Automaton, RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama discussed the success of recent projects such as 2024's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, as well as its two upcoming titles - a new Virtua Fighter game and a brand-new IP entitled Project Century - both of which represent the studio breaking out from the formula of its recent titles.

"Up until now, RGG Studio has released games that go beyond everyone's expectations but are within the framework of the [Yakuza] series – such as switching to the RPG genre and the like," he begins, "However, from now on, we will be entering fields that ignore that existing framework."

Yokoyama is open about how supportive Sega has been in the development of these projects, believing that the company's approach to risk-taking is something that has benefitted RGG Studio tremendously. "I think a good aspect of Sega is that it accepts the possibility of failure. It doesn't just keep pursuing the kind of projects it knows are a safe bet," he explains. 

He notes that this is an intrinsic part of Sega as a company, jokingly referencing Shenmue in the process. "You could say that is Sega's DNA. I mean, they weren't satisfied with simply continuing to make the usual Virtua Fighter games, and decided to turn it into an RPG, resulting in Shenmue."

While the relationship between RGG Studio and Sega has been fruitful, to say the least, Yokoyama concedes that "RGG Studio is the only developer at Sega right now that can take on such challenges." And while this opportunity for RGG Studio to extend its scope, Yokoyama can't help but remain a touch apprehensive. "I feel very excited about these new challenges, but I also feel some anxiety about them."

For the full series, check out our ranking of the best Yakuza games.