{"id":52720,"date":"2025-10-06T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52720"},"modified":"2025-10-06T17:06:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T08:06:20","slug":"like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Although Yakuza and Like a Dragon games don\u2019t typically tread into explicit content, it seems like the franchise\u2019s depictions of the Japanese criminal underworld put it under a significant amount of scrutiny, despite the goofiness that always accompanies its dark and violent themes. Like a Dragon series executive producer and RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama recently commented on the topic <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vQn8Te0_N_k?si=OFq3K3n_BdSfmfix\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a talk with voice actor Hiroyuki Miyasako<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Miyasako will be reprising his role as Yakuza 3\u2019s irredeemable villain Tsuyoshi Kanda in the upcoming Yakuza Kiwami 3. During his talk with Yokoyama, he reminisced about his character\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_F6FLP56k7Y?si=pHT4pP1Ox7UEwWHl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">infamous introduction scene<\/a> in the original game, calling it an \u201cunbelievable *bleep* scene.\u201d Yokoyama laughs but immediately corrects him, saying, \u201cNo, no, that was a massage scene. That\u2019s Kanda\u2019s unusual hobby of giving massages. Don\u2019t get it wrong!\u201d In Yakuza 3, Kanda is described as having a \u201cfixation for giving women rough massages,\u201d but as many details in the game point to, this is a euphemism for something a lot darker.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1390\" height=\"781\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52724\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-001.jpg 1390w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Yokoyama confirms as much, calling the massage thing \u201ca flimsy explanation I came up with.\u201d He then continues to explain that Like a Dragon faces some of the strictest ethical restrictions out there. \u201cBecause of the subject matter, we go through 10 or 20 times more legal and ethical checks than the typical project. We have to be careful about all kinds of things.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, with the franchise going global, the scrutiny isn\u2019t just at home, but international. \u201cThings that seem fine to Japanese sensibilities can be completely off-limits in another country, even if it\u2019s just one word in the script or a specific street sign that resembles something taboo. We have to clear all of that before we can release globally.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1396\" height=\"779\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1396px) 100vw, 1396px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-002.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-002.jpg 1396w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-002-380x212.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-002-768x429.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The issue is directly related to sales as well. In Japan, Like a Dragon titles are generally produced with the CERO D rating in mind (ages 17 and up), but if a title were to be bumped up to CERO Z (ages 18 and up) by Japan\u2019s rating body, retailers wouldn\u2019t be able to display it the same way they do other games. \u201cIt would be sectioned off the same way pornographic magazines do,\u201d Yokoyama explains. And since each of the countries in which Like a Dragon titles are sold have their own rating systems, Yokoyama admits to having a difficult time preparing titles for global release. Since Yakuza is known and appreciated as an adult drama with dark themes, it seems like striking the right balance is quite precarious.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-is-getting-its-darkest-story-yet-with-yakuza-kiwami-3s-dark-ties-spin-off-producer-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Like a Dragon is getting its darkest story yet with Yakuza Kiwami 3\u2019s Dark Ties spin-off, producer says<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragons-dev-team-size-has-barely-changed-since-the-first-game-according-to-rgg-studio-head\/\"><strong>Like a Dragon\u2019s dev team size has barely changed since the first game, according to RGG Studio head\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":52723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-06T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1392\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"779\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2025-10-06T13:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1392,"height":779,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amber V","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amber V","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/"},"author":{"name":"Amber V","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc6517a00e35b6917ffdb02e8b574d9"},"headline":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0","datePublished":"2025-10-06T13:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/"},"wordCount":488,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/","name":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-06T13:00:00+00:00","description":"RGG Studio director and Like a Dragon series executive director Masayoshi Yokoyama talks about the strict procedure each Yakuza game faces.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251006-52720-header.jpg","width":1392,"height":779,"caption":"Yakuza Kiwami 3"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-goes-through-10-to-20-times-more-legal-and-ethical-checks-than-a-typical-game-rgg-studio-chief-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Like a Dragon \u201cgoes through 10 to 20 times more legal and ethical checks\u201d than a typical game, RGG Studio chief says\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc6517a00e35b6917ffdb02e8b574d9","name":"Amber V","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","caption":"Amber V"},"description":"Editor-in-Chief since October 2023. She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52726,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52720\/revisions\/52726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}