Exclusive: Like a Dragon rep talks about Gaiden’s sales, Infinite Wealth’s tremendous volume and whether we can expect a Game Pass release (the answer is no)
Sega released Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased his name in November, and is already preparing to launch Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, a new entry to the main series, on January 26. How has the response to Gaiden been so far? How long is Infinite Wealth and will it be available via Game Pass? We asked Masayoshi Yokoyama, the Director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, to find out.
──How is Like a Dragon: Gaiden performing in terms of sales?
Yokoyama: In Japan, sales have been surprisingly good. The game’s been very well received, and as a result, we’ve been able to hold more demo events. Thank you all so much.
──You often mention the Like a Dragon series’ growing overseas popularity, but this time it’s the domestic sales that stand out?
Yokoyama: Yes, domestic sales this time around are astonishing, I can really feel the series’ popularity reigniting in Japan. Gaiden might be our best-selling title in recent times.
──Congratulations! Did it exceed your expectations?
Yokoyama: It doubled my expectations. Frankly, up until the release, I wasn’t that confident in Gaiden in terms of sales.
──Why not?
Yokoyama: It’s not that I wasn’t confident in it as a game, but since we were working on Gaiden alongside Infinite Wealth, which is of a formidable quality and volume, I’d always end up comparing the two. Because of this, I wasn’t able to have complete confidence in Gaiden, and I wasn’t sure how players would react to it. I thought, what if they say things like, “This doesn’t count as a Like a Dragon game volume-wise!” or “The story’s too short!” (laughs). So, nobody on the team was expecting the reception to be this good.
──I see, so being conscious of Infinite Wealth is what caused the uncertainty.
Yokoyama:
There were two main goals I had with Like a Dragon: Gaiden. Among overseas players, there are many people who entered the series with Yakuza: Like a Dragon (in which Ichiban Kasuga is the protagonist) and don’t have a deep understanding of Kiryu Kazuma’s character, so Gaiden serves to help people get to know him and bridge the gap between titles. On the other hand, for players who have been with the series for a long time, Gaiden is a story they can really get emotionally invested in. These are the two goals I had going into the creation of Gaiden, and I think we’ve managed to pull off both.
──Now that you mention it, there were some voices of concern about Gaiden as a product due to talk of it originally being planned as DLC and everything. The play time is also significantly shorter than that of Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. So, in the end, how did players react to the new, “compact” form of Like a Dragon?
Yokoyama: It was extremely well received (laughs). Everyone’s telling me, “Make more games like this.” It came as a surprise to me, but many users who actually played the game told us they wanted more Gaiden-sized games from time to time. It’s made me think that a good approach could be to release smaller titles in-between of the main entry releases.
──I’m also one of the people wanting more (laughs). I feel like the popularity of Akame is particularly impressive this time around, with First Summer Uika (who plays Akame) hyping things up further with her Akame-related posts on social media. Although she is a naturally likeable character, how would you describe the reasons for her popularity?
Yokoyama: I think it’s because she brings something new to Like a Dragon’s line up of fiery-tempered characters. There have been many strong-willed and unyielding female characters in the series so far, but there haven’t been many such characters that don’t end up forming a close/romantic relationship with Kiryu. Akame is like a female version of the Florist of Sai, and she has a bit of Makoto Date inside her too.
In the first place, Like a Dragon titles always have a character that serves as a “guide,” and the guide is always a hit.
──By the way, how has Infinite Wealth been doing in terms of pre-orders?
Yokoyama: Quite well – I think we might break a record in terms of pre-orders.
──The Infinite Wealth demo being included as Gaiden’s bonus content might be contributing to that. It’s quite a long demo too.
Yokoyama: It’s long, but it’s still just a fraction of the real thing. Our idea was for people to think of the combination of Gaiden and the Infinite Wealth demo as one game. As for the full-length Infinite Wealth, it’s all about volume.
──You’ve mentioned Infinite Wealth’s significant volume on several occasions, but can you go into more detail? What makes the game so substantial?
Yokoyama: First of all, the main story is long. It features two main protagonists, and numerous other characters, so the amount of side stories related to each of them is considerable.
Then there’s “Dondoko Island” and “Bucket List,” which are packed with side content and substantial enough to be independent games depending on how you play them. But, on the other hand, both “Dondoko Island” and “Bucket List” are optional. After all, side stories in Like a Dragon titles have always been optional. You can progress through only the main story if you want to, and you can play the side stories to feel the volume too. This has remained unchanged with Infinite Wealth. Besides, if you attempt to clear everything, it may never end.
──Even Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes quite a while to complete…
Yokoyama: But Infinite Wealth is of much greater volume than Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Just from the debugging process, I can tell that Infinite Wealth takes “never-ending” to a whole new level.
──I should prepare myself. There’s another thing I’ve been curious about – can people expect Infinite Wealth to be available via Game Pass?
Yokoyama: At the moment, there are no plans for Infinite Wealth to come to Game Pass.
──Why did you decide so?
Yokoyama: This is connected to what I mentioned earlier, but for Gaiden, I thought of Game Pass as a way of “handing overseas users our business card” – in other words, letting players new to the series enjoy the game and get to know Kiryu. Game Pass proved to be a very good method to invite new users to interact with the series.
──Come to think of it, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, this year’s Game of the Year, had commented that they have no plans for a Game Pass release given the game’s volume (IGN).
Yokoyama: I understand the reasoning behind their decision very well. I think each title has its own goals and befitting ways of being provided to users.
──To finish things off, tell us how people who want to play Infinite Wealth should prepare themselves ahead of the release.
Yokoyama: I think a very important thing is how you engage with console games. Mobile games have come to be so widespread because people had trouble approaching console games – after all, the entertainment industry is all about competing for peoples’ free time. I speak from my own experience – I’ve been making console games ever since I joined Sega, but the older and busier I get, the harder I find it to make time for console games. And then, even though I play them less and less, I keep making larger games…I’m always faced with this contradiction within myself.
I believe there’s a particular way only console games can move people, and I want to create games that give the player a high degree of satisfaction, with high-end graphics and lots of content. Infinite Wealth’s story ended up super long, but there’s so much to experience in there.
This is why I’m always set on creating stories you can’t easily forget. For Infinite Wealth, I envisioned a story that features complex events but is easy to follow and unforgettable.
With that said, I want players to engage with the game as they would with a TV drama, watching for two, three hours a day – consistently but without harming their health.
──I’ll try not to overdo it and wreck my body.
Yokoyama: If you wanted to clear only the main story of Infinite Wealth, it would take about 3-4 days without sleep. That means no sleep, no detours, and almost no side stories, so please enjoy the game bit by bit, without losing any sleep.
──I’ll do my best. Thank you for your time!
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is scheduled for release on January 26, 2024 for the PC (Windows/Steam)/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PS4/PS5.
Interviewer, writer, photographer: Ayuo Kawase
Translation: Amber V
Ayuo Kawase
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