Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director – Yakuza 8 set several years after Like a Dragon; non-Yakuza and Judgment title(s) in the works

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu features an interview with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama, who discusses the studio’s recent restructures.

Here are the key tidbits:

• “It’s very normal for a company to change up the structure of its staff. I’m really quite happy to be in an environment where there’s a need to make a big announcement out of something so ordinary.”
• “Over the past 10 years, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has grown to 300 staff. [Toshihiro] Nagoshi, [Daisuke] Sato, and I have been the top three for quite some time, but changes are unlikely to occur in this sort of setup without shaking things up. In that sense, I think this structural shift is a sign of change.”
• “Yakuza 8 (title tentative) will be a sequel set several years after the story of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. When it launches, it’ll be an Ichiban Kasuga story.” (Is Ichiban Kasuga the protagonist?) “Yeah, well, yes. Yep, that’s right.”
• “The Judgment series is also very important to us.”
• “We’ll actively challenge ourselves to create new titles, not only for Judgment, as circumstances permit.”
• “Unannounced title(s) outside of both series [Yakuza and Judgment] are also in the works.”

Thanks, Ryokutya2089.