Like a Dragon Devs Say They Will Stick to “Middle-Aged Guy” Stories Despite Expanding Audience

The Like a Dragon series is enjoying growing success, with its audience expanding to include more younger and female players. Despite this broader appeal, the developers have stated that the series will continue to focus on stories of “middle-aged guys doing middle-aged guy things.”

In an interview with Automaton, Ryosuke Horii, the series director, highlighted that one of the core elements of the game is its focus on relatable experiences for middle-aged men. He said:

In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, everything starts with three unemployed middle-aged guys being like “Let’s go to Hello Work.” They have a different air about them than a group of young heroes would, complaining about back pain and the like. But this “humanity” you feel from their age is what gives the game originality.

Furthermore, Hirotaka Chiba, the lead planner, reinforced this idea, pointing out that even the small, everyday conversations in the game reflect this approach. He said:

For example, there’s a conversation where Adachi is conflicted about whether he should drink beer or not because he’s worried about his uric acid level. We’re making the hearty talks of middle-aged dudes our identity, rather than youthfulness.

Despite the growing number of younger and female fans, the development team has no intention of changing its formula. Horii expressed his gratitude for the expanding fan base, saying:

We have had a large increase in new fans, including women, which we’re truly happy and grateful for. However, we don’t plan to do anything like deliberately changing conversation topics in order to cater to new fans. That would make us unable to keep talking about things like uric acid levels… (laughs)

Considering all this, it seems the developers of Like a Dragon have no intention of shifting away from the theme of “middle-aged guys doing middle-aged guy things,” as they believe this is the core identity of the series.

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