Like a Dragon series’ director: If there’s no healthy fighting during development, you can only make a “lukewarm” game at best 

SEGA’s Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is one of those developers you can’t help but be curious about – what do things actually look like behind the scenes of the Like a Dragon series? AUTOMATON recently had the opportunity to talk to two of RGG Studio’s key figures – Like a Dragon series director Ryosuke Horii (who directed Infinite Wealth) and game design supervisor Hirotaka Chiba. These guys are at the top of the studio’s planning team, and they gave us insight into the work that they do and how their team differs from the typical planning team. Above all, they answered the question “Do Yakuza’s developers ever fight?” 

The short answer is yes, but these “fights” revolve around a common goal – making an entertaining game. To begin with, the term ‘game planner’ is kind of specific to the Japanese industry, but it is generally thought to include work like the initial conceptualization of a game project, writing proposals and scenarios, and managing the various teams that execute the project. 

RGG Studio’s director Masayoshi Yokoyama has called their planning team “special” on several occasions. When we asked Horii about this, he said, “I don’t know if we are special, but I am proud to say that we are different from others.” According to Horii, RGG Studio’s planning team goes beyond strictly planning-related tasks and gets a lot more hands-on, even including things like directing voice and motion recording sessions. “If we feel that something would be of a better quality if we did it ourselves, we do it. (…) We do not outsource or delegate decisions to others.” 

It’s already known that RGG Studio nurtures developers who think for themselves rather than worker-bees, but this seems to be especially true of the planning team. Chiba chimes in commenting, “Each planner has a certain range of content that they oversee, and they are a bit like a director of that piece of content.” 

This means that their job is not only to carry out their own tasks, but to take a proactive role when disagreements pop up. “For example, if a designer and a programmer are quarreling, it is the planner’s job to intercede. After all, if there are no arguments nor discussions, you can expect no more than a lukewarm final product. Therefore, fights are always welcome. But obviously, fighting is meaningless if it doesn’t result in a fruitful conclusion, so it is up to the planner to lead everyone in the right direction. It’s all about having healthy and productive fights.” Horii elaborates. 

RGG Studio’s different teams tend to “fight to the same beat” rather than dancing to it, as Horii puts it – but it’s all healthy and in the interest of making the games as entertaining as they can be. “We accept opinions based on how good they are, not based on which team suggested them. On the other hand, we also make sure to ‘mercilessly’ shut down poor ideas, so it boils down to having debates and ‘battles’ in the interest of making a good game.” 

But for this way of working to run smoothly, the team needs individuals equipped with leadership skills. That’s why RGG Studio’s planners are all trained to be leaders, even if they are not in a managerial position, according to Horii. They also need to know all the answers when a question arises – which makes them the backbone of Like a Dragon’s development. 

This article covers just part of a full-length interview that explores the inner workings of RGG Studio’s planning team, coming on September 2.