RGG Studio Confirms It Will Continue To Work With Its In-House Dragon Engine On Future Like A Dragon Releases

With the release of RGG Studio’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, it has became one of its most popular releases with over one million copies sold in its first week. In our review for the game we wrote: “With its rich characters, intricate plot, and attention to detail, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has delivered a masterpiece that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on the gaming landscape.”

However, the series has faced a restructuring that took players by surprise. Firstly, dropping the title ‘Yakuza’ for the current ‘Like a Dragon’. Something many players are still adapting to more than a year later. Additionally, the transition to Unreal Engine for select releases. While the team has not abandoned the in-house engine, Unreal Engine is receiving more attention.

When speaking to Japanese outlet Type, RGG Studio technical director Yutaka Ita elaborated that the Dragon Engine is never going away and plans to always utilize it for Like a Dragon. “Yes. However, in order to create ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku’, the dragon engine must never be lost, and we will continue to develop an in-house engine,” an online translation for Ita’s statement reads.

Still, we made this choice because we have to adapt to changes in the gaming industry. Perhaps, in the future, if a very good general-purpose game engine comes out, all the game companies in the world will use it. At that time, if “Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio” was in a state where only the dragon engine could be used, it might not be able to compete in this world anymore.

We don’t know which direction the game industry and development environment will take in the future. That’s why in the training for new employees at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, they learn how to make games using three engines, Unreal Engine and Unity, in addition to the Dragon Engine. Knowing the other two engines will help us make the Dragon Engine better, and we’ll be able to keep up with it whenever the direction of the gaming industry changes. That’s what trilingual education is for.

Ita continued by sharing that the team faced a new perspective that Dragon Engine initially didn’t feature until the studio began adopting Unreal Engine. “Because we used Unreal Engine for ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin!’. We were able to create a very beautiful expression of gloss in a bright daytime environment and a high level of depth of field.”

He continued: “On the other hand, ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku 8’ was developed with the Dragon Engine, but after receiving a consultation that “I wanted to incorporate the expressions that I was able to achieve in ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin! Goku’ into ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku 8,'” we added new lighting features to the Dragon Engine.”

Are you relieved that Dragon Engine will remain at RGG Studio?

Source: Type