If you’re familiar with the Japanese gaming scene, then you’ve probably heard of the Yakuza series – a franchise of games created by Toshihiro Nagoshi that has elements of a crime drama and is inspired by actual Japanese yakuza films. The series was developed by Ryu Ga Gatoku Studio and published by SEGA. However, the series’ creator left SEGA back in late 2021 and started his own development studio called Nagoshi Studio, backed up by NetEase games. Now, Nagoshi is excited to work on new, drama-driven games for the future.
In an interview with IGN, Nagoshi explains his plans for future games. He claims to continue his focus on games that are driven by stories and “human drama.”
“We are influenced by movies and are interested in creating games that offer a high level of human drama. That’s what we find fun. Just as before, I hope to create games in that vein that can reach a global audience,” Nagoshi continues, explaining what to expect from his work. “So you won’t find us making, like, smartphone puzzle games or whatever. Those games are fun, but what we’re good at and what the world expects from us is games with dramatic and moving stories, and that’s what we want to make. So that’s where our focus is.”
Nagoshi also talked about capturing human performances for his characters but is still unsure whether or not he will be hiring famous actors. “…I think we can achieve even more emotionally engaging performances, facial expressions and so on. So I do have the desire to keep improving on that. In the meantime, whether or not we decide to work with any particular actors, I think it’s important to keep fostering those connections.”
Nagoshi Studio currently consists of only 10 people, and Toshihiro Nagoshi will not aim to make a big studio, with his preferred max number of staff being only 100. He wants to take things slow and steady, preferring to work on games one at a time:
“We may work on an extra project in tandem, but the basic idea is to work on one idea and put all of our energy into it, to release a first game that is strong and that is well received.”
There is also no public timetable for the first game from Nagoshi Studio, but we expect it to be something made with passion. Nagoshi wants to get player feedback for his first game as well, so he wants to finish it as soon as possible.
“I like to be able to hear players’ feedback to the games we work hard to develop, to consider the reaction and adjust the end goal accordingly. So I hope to be able to show off the game as soon as it is in a condition that is good enough to share. And we will ensure the game is impressive when we do so. I don’t want to take too long.”
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