The Like a Dragon series, also known as Yakuza in the Western market, will focus on further developing its in-house Dragon Engine. However, Yutaka Ita, the technical director at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, thinks it’s important for the staff to learn about other engines to keep the Dragon Engine competitive.
In a recent interview with Japanese publication Type (translated by VGC), Ita mentioned that the studio used Unreal Engine for its latest remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin. Through this experience, they found areas for improvement within the Dragon Engine, particularly in lighting effects. Thanks to Unreal Engine, Ishin was able to showcase advanced features like shininess in daylight and depth of field. With this knowledge, the team integrated new lighting features into the Dragon Engine for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Many studios will just move to the Unreal Engine because they can modify it for their work. However, seeing a studio instead use it as inspiration is smart and reflects our industry. Our best games are the culmination of ideas built upon by developers and borrowed from others.
“The Dragon Engine concentrates development resources on the functions that are necessary for Like a Dragon and, above all, the speed at which new functions can be added is a big advantage. If you use a general-purpose engine, you can email support and it takes about three days to get a reply, but if you ask the programmer sitting next to you it only takes five seconds. I think this difference is huge. That said, it’s not good to think ‘our game engine is the best!’. I think we programmers in particular should always have a sense of threat: ‘That one is better than ours, we have to work harder’.”
Yutaka Ita
While the main focus is on the Dragon Engine, Ita emphasizes the need for adaptability for the studio’s success. New hires at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio receive training in using the Dragon Engine, Unreal Engine, and Unity. By recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different engines, the studio aims to integrate those advantages into its own engine to stay competitive.
As Ita emphasized, the Like a Dragon series will not switch to Unreal or Unity. He stated, “When creating Like a Dragon, we absolutely must not do away with the Dragon Engine.” The Dragon Engine was created specifically to meet Like a Dragon’s needs, providing customization and efficiency that general-purpose engines may not offer. For instance, technical support with a general-purpose engine can take several days, while in-house support is readily available.
We rarely hear about it, but it makes a lot of sense. Building a game is the meat of it all, but the engine is the skeleton and is how any game is made. If you can’t improve upon an engine, you’ll get new games that feel like they would be better released early. For example, one of the biggest critiques of Starfield is that it feels like it would have been better received during Skyrim’s time. So many issues feel like they shouldn’t be issues anymore (loading screens, small areas, no map, etc.) Like A Dragon’s studio is working to make sure they’re always ahead by learning from their competitors.
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