{"id":24821,"date":"2023-12-25T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=24821"},"modified":"2023-12-25T14:46:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T05:46:52","slug":"20231225-24821","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/20231225-24821\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Like a Dragon rep talks about Gaiden\u2019s sales, Infinite Wealth\u2019s tremendous volume and whether we can expect a Game Pass release (the answer is no)\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sega released Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased<\/strong> his name in November, and is already preparing to launch Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth<\/strong>, 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Like<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Like<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500How is Like a Dragon: Gaiden performing in terms of sales?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> In Japan, sales have been surprisingly good. The game\u2019s been very well received, and as a result, we\u2019ve been able to hold more demo events. Thank you all so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Masayoshi<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500You often mention the Like a Dragon series\u2019 growing overseas popularity, but this time it\u2019s the domestic sales that stand out?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> Yes, domestic sales this time around are astonishing, I can really feel the series\u2019 popularity reigniting in Japan. Gaiden might be our best-selling title in recent times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500Congratulations! Did it exceed your expectations?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama: <\/strong>It doubled my expectations. Frankly, up until the release, I wasn\u2019t that confident in Gaiden in terms of sales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500Why not?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> 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\u2019d always end up comparing the two. Because of this, I wasn\u2019t able to have complete confidence in Gaiden, and I wasn\u2019t sure how players would react to it. I thought, what if they say <\/strong>things like, \u201cThis doesn\u2019t count as a Like a Dragon game volume-wise!\u201d or \u201cThe story\u2019s too short!\u201d (laughs). So, nobody on the team was expecting the reception to be this good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500I see, so being conscious of Infinite Wealth is what caused the uncertainty.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t have a deep understanding of Kiryu Kazuma\u2019s 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\u2019ve managed to pull off both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kazuma<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500Now 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, \u201ccompact\u201d form of Like a Dragon?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama: <\/strong>It was extremely well received (laughs). <\/strong>Everyone\u2019s telling me, \u201cMake more games like this.\u201d 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\u2019s made me think that a good approach could be to release smaller titles in-between of the main entry releases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500I\u2019m 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?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama<\/strong>: I think it\u2019s because she brings something new to Like a Dragon\u2019s line up of fiery-tempered characters. There have been many strong-willed and unyielding female characters in the series so far, but there haven\u2019t been many such characters that don\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first place, Like a Dragon titles always have a character that serves as a \u201cguide,\u201d and the guide is always a hit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Akame<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500By the way, how has Infinite Wealth been doing in terms of pre-orders?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> Quite well \u2013 I think we might break a record in terms of pre-orders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2500\u2500The Infinite Wealth demo being included as Gaiden\u2019s bonus content might be contributing to that. It\u2019s quite a long demo too.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokoyama:<\/strong> It\u2019s long, but it\u2019s 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\u2019s all about volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u203b\u672c\u4f53\u9a13\u7248\u306f\u300e\u9f8d\u304c\u5982\u304f\uff17\u5916\u4f1d\u300f\u3092\u30af\u30ea\u30a2\u3057\u305f\u5f8c\u306b\u30a2\u30f3\u30ed\u30c3\u30af\u3055\u308c\u307e\u3059\u3002 pic.twitter.com\/zTUNYJ4LEz<\/a><\/p>— \u9f8d\u304c\u5982\u304f\u30b9\u30bf\u30b8\u30aa\u00a0\u516c\u5f0f (@ryugagotoku) August 18, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>