[Automaton] - Like a Dragon rep talks about Gaiden’s sales (Jp sales doubled their expectations), whether we can expect a Game Pass release (no), ect

[Smitch]

Exclusive: Like a Dragon rep talks about Gaiden’s sales, Infinite Wealth’s tremendous volume and whether we can expect a Game Pass release (the answer is no) - AUTOMATON WEST

An interview with RGG Studio Director Masayoshi Yokoyama about the upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and the recently released Like a Dragon Gaiden about sales, Game Pass and more.

automaton-media.com

──How is Like a Dragon: Gaiden performing in terms of sales?

Yokoyama: In Japan, sales have been surprisingly good. The game's been very well received, and as a result, we've been able to hold more demo events. Thank you all so much.

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──You often mention the Like a Dragon series' growing overseas popularity, but this time it's the domestic sales that stand out?

Yokoyama: Yes, domestic sales this time around are astonishing, I can really feel the series' popularity reigniting in Japan. Gaiden might be our best-selling title in recent times.

──Congratulations! Did it exceed your expectations?

Yokoyama: It doubled my expectations. Frankly, up until the release, I wasn't that confident in Gaiden in terms of sales.

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──By the way, how has Infinite Wealth been doing in terms of pre-orders?

Yokoyama: Quite well – I think we might break a record in terms of pre-orders.

──The Infinite Wealth demo being included as Gaiden's bonus content might be contributing to that. It's quite a long demo too.

Yokoyama: It's long, but it's still just a fraction of the real thing. Our idea was for people to think of the combinatio

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──You've mentioned Infinite Wealth's significant volume on several occasions, but can you go into more detail? What makes the game so substantial?

Yokoyama: First of all, the main story is long. It features two main protagonists, and numerous other characters, so the amount of side stories related to each of them is considerable.

Then there's "Dondoko Island" and "Bucket List," which are packed with side content and substantial enough to be independent games depending on how you play them. But, on the other hand, both "Dondoko Island" and "Bucket List" are optional. After all, side stories in Like a Dragon titles have always been optional. You can progress through only the main story if you want to, and you can play the side stories to feel the volume too. This has remained unchanged with Infinite Wealth. Besides, if you attempt to clear everything, it may never end.

──Even Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes quite a while to complete…

Yokoyama: But Infinite Wealth is of much greater volume than Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Just from the debugging process, I can tell that Infinite Wealth takes "never-ending" to a whole new level.

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──I should prepare myself. There's another thing I've been curious about – can people expect Infinite Wealth to be available via Game Pass?

Yokoyama: At the moment, there are no plans for Infinite Wealth to come to Game Pass.

──Why did you decide so?

Yokoyama: This is connected to what I mentioned earlier, but for Gaiden, I thought of Game Pass as a way of "handing overseas users our business card" – in other words, letting players new to the series enjoy the game and get to know Kiryu. Game Pass proved to be a very good method to invite new users to interact with the series.

──Come to think of it, the developer of Baldur's Gate 3, this year's Game of the Year, had commented that they have no plans for a Game Pass release given the game's volume (IGN).

Yokoyama: I understand the reasoning behind their decision very well. I think each title has its own goals and befitting ways of being provided to users.

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──To finish things off, tell us how people who want to play Infinite Wealth should prepare themselves ahead of the release.

Yokoyama: I think a very important thing is how you engage with console games. Mobile games have come to be so widespread because people had trouble approaching console games – after all, the entertainment industry is all about competing for peoples' free time. I speak from my own experience – I've been making console games ever since I joined Sega, but the older and busier I get, the harder I find it to make time for console games. And then, even though I play them less and less, I keep making larger games…I'm always faced with this contradiction within myself.

I believe there's a particular way only console games can move people, and I want to create games that give the player a high degree of satisfaction, with high-end graphics and lots of content. Infinite Wealth's story ended up super long, but there's so much to experience in there.

This is why I'm always set on creating stories you can't easily forget. For Infinite Wealth, I envisioned a story that features complex events but is easy to follow and unforgettable.

With that said, I want players to engage with the game as they would with a TV drama, watching for two, three hours a day – consistently but without harming their health.

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──I'll try not to overdo it and wreck my body.

Yokoyama: If you wanted to clear only the main story of Infinite Wealth, it would take about 3-4 days without sleep. That means no sleep, no detours, and almost no side stories, so please enjoy the game bit by bit, without losing any sleep.

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More in the article

 

[fiendcode]

Gaiden did really well in Japan but the series is still pretty far off from it's PS2/PS3 era peak unless PC is matching console sales. Though maybe it is?

 

[Vex]

With that said, I want players to engage with the game as they would with a TV drama, watching for two, three hours a day – consistently but without harming their health.

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That's pretty much how I try to play the yakuza games. I treat it like an episodic TV show. It actually lends itself quite well to that playstyle.

 

[vixolus]

Infinite Wealth being even longer than 7 is a little intimidating.

I wish these interviewers would stop asking if a game is coming to game pass. They would have announced that by now. It's just kind of rude and is obviously unnecessary. They're not going to say yes and potentially harm day 1 sales. Asking about how its inclusion has helped the IP like they did is fine of course.

 

[vestan]

Kiryu + action combat + demo for Infinite Wealth = ¥¥¥

I believe there's a particular way only console games can move people, and I want to create games that give the player a high degree of satisfaction, with high-end graphics and lots of content. Infinite Wealth's story ended up super long, but there's so much to experience in there.

This is why I'm always set on creating stories you can't easily forget. For Infinite Wealth, I envisioned a story that features complex events but is easy to follow and unforgettable.

With that said, I want players to engage with the game as they would with a TV drama, watching for two, three hours a day – consistently but without harming their health.

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Piecemealing the game throughout the year >>

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[Super]

SEGA's use of Game Pass has been interesting, Metaphor: Re Fantazio and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth don't currently have a day 1 Game Pass deal. The Persona ports and Like a Dragon: Gaiden did.

 

[NuclearDistortion]

I think you missed a big piece of the article OP:

"Yokoyama: If you wanted to clear only the main story of Infinite Wealth, it would take about 3-4 days without sleep. That means no sleep, no detours, and almost no side stories, so please enjoy the game bit by bit, without losing any sleep. "

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Three to Four days straight NO SLEEP for the main story alone?????

That's like 72-96 hours sans Substories or anything else??

MY GOD.

 

[YozoraXV]

I am so glad that put the entire Yakuza series of Game Pass, never would have played it otherwise. Such great games.

8 will for sure come to Game Pass at some point, Game Pass is likely one of the core reasons it has become so popular now.

 

[Izanagi89]

SEGA's use of Game Pass has been interesting, Metaphor: Re Fantazio and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth don't currently have a day 1 Game Pass deal. The Persona ports and Like a Dragon: Gaiden did.

Click to shrink...

Gaiden is a much smaller game than your normal Yakuza release and late ports are usually prime candidates for Gamepass. I don't think we'll see mainline Yakuza games or Persona 6 hit day one GP

 

[Smitch]

I think you missed a big piece of the article OP:



Three to Four days straight NO SLEEP for the main story alone?????

That's like 72-96 hours sans Substories or anything else??

MY GOD.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, i added it 👍

 

[Lord Fanny]

SEGA's use of Game Pass has been interesting, Metaphor: Re Fantazio and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth don't currently have a day 1 Game Pass deal. The Persona ports and Like a Dragon: Gaiden did.

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I think his analogy of seeing smaller side games as a sort of business card to western audiences who aren't as invested in their games yet makes a lot of sense. Those are the business cards. The mainline games are the actual business.

P3: R doesn't fit that mold as well as Gaiden or Tactica, but it's still ultimately a remake over a brand new title so it's sort of an in between. It's the Starbucks in the lobby of the business

 

[NuclearDistortion]

I am so glad that put the entire Yakuza series of Game Pass, never would have played it otherwise. Such great games.

8 will for sure come to Game Pass at some point, Game Pass is likely one of the core reasons it has become so popular now.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure the series always had a decent following on the Playstation side of things prior to Game Pass no? I could be totally talking out of my ass here lol.

 

[Super]

Gaiden is a much smaller game than your normal Yakuza release and late ports are usually prime candidates for Gamepass. I don't think we'll see mainline Yakuza games or Persona 6 hit day one GP

Click to shrink...

I think his analogy of seeing smaller side games as a sort of business card to western audiences who aren't as invested in their games yet makes a lot of sense. Those are the business cards. The mainline games are the actual business.

P3: R doesn't fit that mold as well as Gaiden or Tactica, but it's still ultimately a remake over a brand new title so it's sort of an in between. It's the Starbucks in the lobby of the business

Click to shrink...

Yeah definitely gives people tasters of what these games are about and then they buy the next premium release.

 

[Kromis]

I'm pretty sure the series always had a decent following on the Playstation side of things prior to Game Pass no? I could be totally talking out of my ass here lol.

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The power of Yakuza 0

 

[ResetGreyWolf]

I'm pretty sure the series always had a decent following on the Playstation side of things prior to Game Pass no? I could be totally talking out of my ass here lol.

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Before 0, the game performed terribly in the west. The devs didn't even plan on localizing 5 in the west, but ultimately did, and it didn't perform well. 0 was the big turning point, and then 7 also became a smashing hit, making the series bigger in the west than Japan. The game became popular long before Game Pass, yeah

 

[Lkr]

the business card comment is weird when the rest of the series has been a mainstay on gamepass lol
I assume it'll join eventually like the rest of the series, but I have it preordered on steam regardless

 

[nsilvias]

of course they arent gonna say yes before they release the game lol. that would murder sales.

 

[Linus815]

the business card comment is weird when the rest of the series has been a mainstay on gamepass lol
I assume it'll join eventually like the rest of the series, but I have it preordered on steam regardless

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Its the first one that launched day 1 on GP. Which is important. More FOMO, hype, marketing, whatever.

 

[sderttreds]

I'm pretty sure the series always had a decent following on the Playstation side of things prior to Game Pass no? I could be totally talking out of my ass here lol.

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it's like PS exclusives before 7, other port always come 1-2 year after PS

 

[Zep]

I'm pretty sure the series always had a decent following on the Playstation side of things prior to Game Pass no? I could be totally talking out of my ass here lol.

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Here in the west we needed guys like Boyes to go to bat and get the game for us…

https://www.dualshockers.com/sony-focusing-on-yakuza-localization-and-on-shenmue/

 

[quail_lad]

Eventually a publisher is hoping the game pass releases build an audience that buys the game day 1. Seems like it's time with all the past support yakuza has given to the service.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

You'd be incredibly naive to believe that Infinite Wealth won't end up on Game Pass at some point.

 

[Lkr]

Its the first one that launched day 1 on GP. Which is important. More FOMO, hype, marketing, whatever.

Click to shrink...

was Ishin not a day one? honestly can't recall.
prior to the multiple releases this year, 7 was the only game in the series I associated with xbox, and that was only due to it having a "next gen" version that wasn't available at launch on PS
iirc it came to gamepass eventually. i'm fine with these not being there at launch, but I think it's a net benefit to yakuza series growing in popularity to be on these types of services (PS+ extra would be great for it too)

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Eventually a publisher is hoping the game pass releases build an audience that buys the game day 1. Seems like it's time with all the past support yakuza has given to the service.

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Well it's not like Y7 launched on game pass.

 

[Kalor]

was Ishin not a day one? honestly can't recall.
prior to the multiple releases this year, 7 was the only game in the series I associated with xbox, and that was only due to it having a "next gen" version that wasn't available at launch on PS
iirc it came to gamepass eventually. i'm fine with these not being there at launch, but I think it's a net benefit to yakuza series growing in popularity to be on these types of services (PS+ extra would be great for it too)

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Ishin was added later.

 

[Rustyspider13]

The business card analogy is amusing but in line with Sega's strategy. Get people invested with 'smaller' titles like Gaiden and P3R, then make them pay for the bigger ones like IW, Metaphor and probably P6.

Also, "never-ending to a whole new level" screams some kind of post game infinite dungeon to me.

 

[mute]

I think you missed a big piece of the article OP:



Three to Four days straight NO SLEEP for the main story alone?????

That's like 72-96 hours sans Substories or anything else??

MY GOD.

Click to shrink...

And then you remember it has a whole Animal Crossing island included in it too.

 

[sderttreds]

Yokoyama: If you wanted to clear only the main story of Infinite Wealth, it would take about 3-4 days without sleep. That means no sleep, no detours, and almost no side stories, so please enjoy the game bit by bit, without losing any sleep.

Click to shrink...

ngl, kinda worried about this, 7 and gaiden already have pacing issue for me

 

[entrydenied]

the business card comment is weird when the rest of the series has been a mainstay on gamepass lol
I assume it'll join eventually like the rest of the series, but I have it preordered on steam regardless

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They probably know that the older games have reached a certain level of sales and that they can't really sell that much more, barring new ports with new features. If I were a developer the last thing I would want is to cultivate an audience that expects every game to be on Game Pass day one and not buy their games at full price, while being beholdened to MS and whatever price MS is willing to pay. They want exposure for their series and hope to attract new fans that will spend money to buy their games.

 

[Lord Fanny]

the business card comment is weird when the rest of the series has been a mainstay on gamepass lol
I assume it'll join eventually like the rest of the series, but I have it preordered on steam regardless

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It's not weird when you consider those were all ports of older games. They are looking at parity now and you have to readjust your mindset for that

 

[Jabroni Chief]

And here I actually thought that Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth was hitting Gamepass day one. Hopefully, the sales will reflect the interest in the game as stated. I just make an automatic assumption that their third party marketed titles are reaching the service...

 

[Delaney]

Gaiden doing that week and being so cheap to make leads me to believe that we will continue getting Gaiden games apart from Judgement and main series.

 

[SharpX68K]

Daytona 2 sold me.

 

[thankyoumerzbow]

And here I actually thought that Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth was hitting Gamepass day one. Hopefully, the sales will reflect the interest in the game as stated. I just make an automatic assumption that their third party marketed titles are reaching the service...

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it will be like 99% added to gamepass, just not at launch.

 

[Kuro]

Its all thanks to Kson

 

[ArchLector]

it will be like 99% added to gamepass, just not at launch.

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Yup, basically every Yakuza title has been on either GP or PS+, most on both, and this will very likely be on GP in less than a year and on PS+ whenever that deal expires.

 

[Mocha Joe]

Gaiden did really well in Japan but the series is still pretty far off from it's PS2/PS3 era peak unless PC is matching console sales. Though maybe it is?

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PC popularity is growing significantly in Japan so it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[ArchLector]

PC popularity is growing significantly in Japan so it wouldn't surprise me.

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Why don't they just release them on the switch? It'll easily run all of them!

 

[Mocha Joe]

Why don't they just release them on the switch? It'll easily run all of them!

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🤷‍♂️

I agree. Should be able to run 0, Kiwami 1, 3-5 without any issues. Kiwami 2, 6, 7, and the spinoffs might require a significant port job. The dragon engine is a very heavy engine and the Switch's CPU might struggle maintaining 30 FPS.

 

[Son of Sparda]

I think you missed a big piece of the article OP:



Three to Four days straight NO SLEEP for the main story alone?????

That's like 72-96 hours sans Substories or anything else??

MY GOD.

Click to shrink...

 

[Sangral]

I think you missed a big piece of the article OP:



Three to Four days straight NO SLEEP for the main story alone?????

That's like 72-96 hours sans Substories or anything else??

MY GOD.

Click to shrink...

Hard doubt, lol. Don't do this to yourself. 😅

 

[shadowman16]

Alwayys funny to see the same talking points come up regarding this series uptick outside of Japan. Sure Gamepass has definitely helped, but its still gonna be:
People finally paying attention to the series on PS4 when 0 and 6 initially hit overseas
PC giving the series a gigantic shot in the arm when the ports happened.
Gamepass AND PS+

I still think the sub services were the least of the influences for the series, but its undeniable people are picking up the series because they can try them on Xbox etc.

In general I think people just knowiing what the fuck the series is helps the most. And it just being multi platform in general has helped. Oh, and getting them released in a more timely manner.

Either way, series is doing the best it ever has been, and that's to be celebrated. Interesting to hear Gaiden did well in Japan, PC picking up steam (sorry) in Japan certainly wont hurt, we see SFVI doing really well in Japan on PC for example.
And I reckon there will be more Gaiden games - shorter games to make (in terms of dev time) so I hope these take the place of remakes going forward.

Anyway, 8:
That length seems... hard to believe. I wonder if this is just exageration. I find it hard to believe that the game takes between 72 and 96 hours to crit path only. That said... Im totally there for an insanely long Yakuza game. I got 95 hours out of Gaiden, at this rate I'll be aiming for 300 hours in 8 lol.

Its totally coming to GP eventually. Just not at launch. You can be sure of that.

I do appreciate that Bucket List is listed as a big piece of side content. The presentation on what's shown so far looks excellent, Id believe its part of the main story for sure based on the trailer... (Im not entirely convinced parts arent). Either way, getting an entire big piece of content that does what 6 didnt bother doing is EXACTLY what Ive been asking for, so I'm insanely excited for that.

 

[Humanity]

It's not weird when you consider those were all ports of older games. They are looking at parity now and you have to readjust your mindset for that

Click to shrink...

Like a Dragon, Ishin!, and The Man Who Erased His Name are all new entries and are all on Game Pass, so it wasn't just old filler back catalogue stuff.

That said, now that people are hooked its the perfect time to turn off the faucet. If you played like 3-5 full Yakuza games through Game Pass in the past then chances are you're a lot more willing to put down $70 and get the next one yourself, especially if they are advertising such a ridiculously large game where even your frugal gamer will be able to easily devote several months to it.

 

[shadowman16]

Like a Dragon, Ishin!, and The Man Who Erased His Name are all new entries and are all on Game Pass, so it wasn't just old filler back catalogue stuff.

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Just to be technical - Ishin isnt new. Its barely a remake of a 2014 game.
Gaiden isnt even a full "proper" Yakuza game, but rather a small experimental type of game. If something like Yakuza 8 (the big, main line next entry in the series) was on GP day 1 that would be big news. That said, Ishin only just got added to GP, so even that wasnt there day 1.

 

[Dale Copper]

Weird to only mention Japan sales.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Like a Dragon, Ishin!, and The Man Who Erased His Name are all new entries and are all on Game Pass, so it wasn't just old filler back catalogue stuff.

That said, now that people are hooked its the perfect time to turn off the faucet. If you played like 3-5 full Yakuza games through Game Pass in the past then chances are you're a lot more willing to put down $70 and get the next one yourself, especially if they are advertising such a ridiculously large game where even your frugal gamer will be able to easily devote several months to it.

Click to shrink...

Ishin is a remake.

 

[Aspect]

Just to be technical - Ishin isnt new. Its barely a remake of a 2014 game.
Gaiden isnt even a full "proper" Yakuza game, but rather a small experimental type of game. If something like Yakuza 8 (the big, main line next entry in the series) was on GP day 1 that would be big news. That said, Ishin only just got added to GP, so even that wasnt there day 1.

Click to shrink...

I mean, I don't see why Microsoft would want to pay for Yakuza 8 day one on Game Pass when:

• They're going to have an absolutely stacked January as is due to ABK games finally getting dropped in the same month
• Like everyone is saying, it's assuredly coming to Game Pass eventually

Maybe in a pre-ABK world, sure. No point now, plus the Xbox userbase seems hooked on the franchise so the game and subsequent future games should sell pretty well (which, considering the franchise is still sort of new to Xbox, shows that MS/Sega are doing things the right way).

 

[shadowman16]

I mean, I don't see why Microsoft would want to pay for Yakuza 8 day one on Game Pass when:

• They're going to have an absolutely stacked January as is due to ABK games finally getting dropped in the same month
• Like everyone is saying, it's assuredly coming to Game Pass eventually

Maybe in a pre-ABK world, sure. No point now, plus the Xbox userbase seems hooked on the franchise so the game and subsequent future games should sell pretty well (which, considering the franchise is still sort of new to Xbox, shows that MS/Sega are doing things the right way).

Click to shrink...

Totally agree. I dont really mind it missing GP on day 1. Let it get make Sega some money from people like me impatient enough to jump on it day 1, then have it on sub platforms later when sales slow down a bit (and lets be real, it'll drop in price by the end of 2024 as well).

Off topic, didnt realise we were expecting Acti stuff for GP in Jan. I'll have to keep an eye out for those.

 

[Lord Fanny]

Like a Dragon, Ishin!, and The Man Who Erased His Name are all new entries and are all on Game Pass, so it wasn't just old filler back catalogue stuff.

That said, now that people are hooked its the perfect time to turn off the faucet. If you played like 3-5 full Yakuza games through Game Pass in the past then chances are you're a lot more willing to put down $70 and get the next one yourself, especially if they are advertising such a ridiculously large game where even your frugal gamer will be able to easily devote several months to it.

Click to shrink...

They weren't on Game Pass on day 1, which is what I meant.

 

[Humanity]

They weren't on Game Pass on day 1, which is what I meant.

Click to shrink...

Oh I thought you were talking about all the existing Yakuza games that are mainstays on the Game Pass catalogue being ports of older titles which is why I mentioned that the recent releases, I guess without counting Isshin, are new entries to the series. I didn't realize you were talking about things coming to Game Pass day 1.