The series director of the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series says that fights between team members are not only part of the job, but also desired.
In an interview with Automaton, series director Ryosuke Horii was asked if the developers at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio ever fight among themselves.
Horii said yes, but stressed that this is not necessarily a bad thing as long as it is kept under control.
“For example, if a designer and a programmer argue, it is the planner’s job to mediate,” he explained.
“After all, if there are no arguments or discussions, you can’t expect more than a lukewarm end product. That’s why fights are always welcome.
“But of course, a fight is pointless if it does not lead to a productive conclusion. So it is up to the planner to lead everyone in the right direction. It is about having healthy and productive fights.”
Horii added that the studio’s teams tended to “fight to the same beat” rather than dance to it, but that such internal battles were a good thing because they were fought with the intention of making the game as good as possible.
“We accept opinions based on how good they are, not on which team proposed them,” Horii said. “On the other hand, we also make sure to ‘mercilessly’ reject bad ideas. So it comes down to having debates and ‘battles’ in the interest of developing a good game.”
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will be holding an online presentation next month where the studio will hopefully announce its next big project.
The studio’s latest Like a Dragon game, Infinite Wealth, received a Metacritic score of 89 and shipped one million copies in its first week.