Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is a developer.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Webpage

A Japanese development studio operating under Sega since its inception. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio develops games for both consoles and PC, and its flagship achievement is the Yakuza series, known globally as Like a Dragon since 2020.

History of studio names

Over the years, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has changed its name many times.

1. The team began in 1998 as Sega AM11, but just a year later it was rebranded as R&D4.
2. Starting in 2000, the team operated under the name Amusement Vision.
3. After merging with Smilebit - and following the merger of its parent company with Sammy, which brought a major restructuring - the studio changed its name once again in 2005, this time to New Entertainment R&D Dept.
4. In 2009, the team adopted yet another name - Sega CS1.
5. In 2012, the name Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio began appearing in the media, at first only in Japan and later across the rest of the world. Ultimately, it was this name that stuck, giving the studio its distinct identity.

History

The beginnings

The studio’s roots trace back to 1989, when a young designer named Toshihiro Nagoshi joined Sega. The developer, credited by Sega for successes like the Daytona USA racing game, quickly rose through the ranks and in 2000 became president of his studio, then known as Amusement Vision.

The team released several well-received titles, including Super Monkey Ball - one of the GameCube’s launch games - and F-Zero GX. Thanks to the success of his team’s later games, Nagoshi climbed the ranks once more. During Sega’s 2003 restructuring, Amusement Vision absorbed Smilebit. As a result, the team expanded significantly, reaching 124 developers by 2004.

Yakuza's troubled beginnings

The concept for a third-person action game set in Japan’s criminal underworld came directly from Toshihiro Nagoshi. Although Sega executives initially rejected the concept, Hajime Satomi, CEO of Sega Sammy, supported it, and the project eventually moved into production. Despite the publisher’s concerns about its market performance, Ryu ga Gotoku for PlayStation 2 was both a critical and commercial success - debuting in Japan in 2005 and later in the West in 2006 under the name Yakuza.

The developers decided to strike while the iron was hot, launching a series that would become the team’s primary focus moving forward. In the years that followed, the series expanded with both major installments and spin-offs, including historical titles like Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan! (2008) and Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin! (2014). Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011), a zombie-themed spin-off, also stands out.

Since not all Yakuza games found global success - and some never left Japan - the studio decided in 2012 to take a step back and reach Western audiences with a sci-fi shooter, Binary Domain. With the game largely flying under the radar, the team shifted its full focus back to developing its flagship series. However, Binary Domain introduced technology that the team would later build upon in its Dragon Engine.

Global success and a new beginning

In 2015, the prequel Yakuza 0 hit the store shelves. The game was a major artistic and commercial hit worldwide, getting many players interested in the series as a whole. Its strong sales convinced the team to remake the first two installments and release remastered editions of the third, fourth, and fifth games.

This breathed new life into the Yakuza series. The first chapter of the series wrapped up with 2016’s Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, after which the franchise was set for a major transformation. In 2020, the seventh main installment, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, arrived - taking a bold turn into the JRPG genre, unlike the action-focused style of its predecessors. Players welcomed the franchise’s new direction, and the series has continued to build on that approach.

In October 2021, both Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato departed from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Masayoshi Yokohama, formerly the producer and writer for the Yakuza series, stepped in as the new head of the studio. The Yakuza series was then officially rebranded for the Western audience. The eighth main installment, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, launched in early 2024.

Alongside the mainline entries, the Yakuza franchise expanded with two spin-offs in the Judgment subseries: Judgment (2018) and Lost Judgment (2021). In addition, the spin-off action game Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name launched in 2023. Additionally, 2023 saw the release of the remake Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin!, which debuted in the West as Like a Dragon: Ishin!.