Yakuza’s Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato leave Sega

Having the first rumor was in August, the snow been confirmed: Yakuza Series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is leaving Sega and his own studio Ryu Ga Gotoku. Longtime director and producer of the series, Daisuke Sato, is also joining him.

The couple both posted on the studio’s official website. announce their departure. Nagoshi says:

On leaving SEGA, I am also leaving my position as studio director Ryu Ga Gotoku. Thanks to the fans who have supported us and the Yakuza series for many years. You have my most sincere and deep gratitude.

I persisted and am here now thanks to what I learned from many people around me. It is thanks to the colleagues who supported me in such a way that I was able to refine my state of mind to continually push the limits.

Starting today, a new Ryu Ga Gotoku studio has been born where the series will live. While I’m not sure what they’ll create, I think the new generation will further strengthen the foundations we’ve built over the years and deliver great games to the world. To achieve this, they too must continue to learn, challenge themselves and grow. I ask you to continue to support the efforts of the studio.

Once again, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you. Thank you very much for your support. Stay tuned for the many new starts!

As Saito reads:

Thank you very much for your continued support for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.

Personally, I take this opportunity to inform you that I am leaving SEGA to take another path. In the future, series producer Yokoyama will take over as head of the studio, and producer Sakamoto and director Horii will become the main leaders within the studio Ryu Ga Gotoku.

I have been involved in the development of Yakuza from the start and have been the head of the Ryu Ga Gotoku studio for 9 years, so I feel a strong attachment to him. It’s sad to leave the place and the colleagues with whom I have shared so many ups and downs, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has grown into a strong organization after 10 years since its birth.

I believe the studio has the power not only to continue the Yakuza series, but also to continue that momentum even further. The talented studio staff are quite capable of accomplishing this, which is why I can confidently leave it to them.

I am very grateful to be involved in the series which has been going on for 15 years, and I want to express my gratitude to all the fans who have supported us, the staff who worked together to develop the Yakuza series, as well as everyone. in the industry that has touched the Yakuza series in one way or another.

I can’t wait to see new titles and will continue to support Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio – this time as a fan.

Hope fans will continue to support the new Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Again, thank you very much for your support over the years.

In some ways, this is a blow to both the studio and the future of the series. Yakuza is Nagoshi and Nagoshi is Yakuza, and while he’s taken a step back from the series’ frontline development in recent years, the games just wouldn’t be here without him.

Saito, meanwhile, also played an important role in the development of the series, as a director on Yakuza 3 and as a producer of everything from Yakuza Kiwami at Judgement.

Still, the studio, wisely, prefaced the two leaving announcements with a lengthy post from the new Ryu Ga Gotoku. director Masayoshi yokoyama, which explains :

Ryu Ga Gotoku’s predecessors passed their beliefs and skills down to every staff member. You can witness this in the recent Lost Judgment and see it in the upcoming sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon which will continue the story of Ichiban Kasuga.

This game is currently being developed by producer Sakamoto and directors Horii, Ito and Mitake. Myself, along with Takeuchi and Furuta, I work on the story.

Whether it’s six months or a year away, I hope to show you a new Ryu Ga Gotoku title by a new Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio that’s different but still the same, and something that will spark a feeling of “that’s what that we are waiting ”in you. I would like to continue my life as a video game creator with seriousness.

Uh, six months please, a year is too long.