Yakuza’s Dragon Engine is a ‘Bit Old,’ RGG Studio Boss Weighing ‘Merits’ of Unreal Engine 5 Shift

Talking about the challenges of modern console technology, Yokoyama says that he’s not as worried about graphics, which he considers to have taken less of a leap than than in the PS3 era. Instead, Yokoyama worries more about the sheer number of available platforms.

“[R]ather than adjusting in terms of the challenge of adjusting to a new generation, much stronger technology, the main challenge is that now, we have so many platforms,” Yokoyama says. “We have PC, we have Steam, we have Xbox, we have all sorts of things from which our game can be a part of, and so making a game that can be on all these platforms and using the chance to share our game with people all around the world is the major challenge that we think we want to face going forward. And because of all these different pieces of technology, we want to maybe try doing something unique as well. Whether or not we’re doing it is a little bit of a secret though.”

Just don’t expect a Yakuza game on the Nintendo Switch anytime soon, which Yokoyama described during the interview as “kind of a system for a younger audience,” at least in Japan.

Whatever the case, there are several Yakuza games in the pipeline now, including the Like a Dragon: Ishin remake, Like a Dragon 8, and a new sidestory featuring Kazuma Kiryu. Ishin is the first in line, with a release date set for February 21, 2023.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

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