Like a Dragon 8 has been in development since 2021

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New Yakuza, same whacky physical comedy

Like a Dragon 8
(Image credit: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio)

A new documentary has revealed details behind Like a Dragon 8's ongoing development.

Earlier today on February 21, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio debuted the new documentary below, the first in a brand new series taking a deep dive into the studio's inner workings. This first episode reveals new details about Like a Dragon 8, including the fact that development of the sequel actually began back in December 2021.

It was here that Like a Dragon 8 entered production with motion capture first on the to-do list, immediately after director Masayoshi Yokoyama and other staff had finalized the game's story. A few months later in January 2022, the voice recording process commenced after preliminary performance capture had wrapped up with the cast. 

After this, facial capture work was going to be undertaken with the same performance capture cast. The first episode in this documentary series is basically a look at how Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio works with its actors to bring out the best performance for their games, as director Yokoyama has a personal hand in performance capture and voice recording.

If you want to see a behind-the-scenes look at the performance capture for Like a Dragon 8, skip to 3:30 in the video above. You'll see snapshots of the cast acting out scenes, including Ichiban being depressed after leaving the job centre, the main cast having a drinking party, and Ichiban going literally flying over a guy who's been knocked down to the ground.

Same old Yakuza, then. Like a Dragon 8 was unveiled in September 2022, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio still can't decide what Like a Dragon 8 will actually be called. There's still a lot of work to be done yet before the game eventually ships, but considering Yakuza 8 isn't set to arrive until next year in 2024, there's still plenty of time to iron things out.

The long-awaited western release of Ishin is finally here, and you can head over to our Like a Dragon Ishin fighting styles guide for an extensive breakdown of each stance. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.