Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have had a strong 2024, and things keep getting better. Even discounting acclaimed titles from other Sega studios like Atlus’ Metaphor: ReFantazio, RGG Studio has released Like a Dragon 8: Infinite Wealth, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, and Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown’s 2.0 console update. It’s then kicking 2025 off with the Steam launch of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. After all of that, the 2024 Game Awards introducing a new IP called Project Century and a Virtua Fighter reboot feels like a victory lap.
Little is known about these two recent additions to RGG Studio’s slate, but with so many other games from the developer to play, that’s not a problem. Although Project Century isn’t confirmed as part of the Yakuza, or Like a Dragon, universe that RGG Studio is known for, it will be a welcome new setting if it is, and a rare move by the developer if it isn’t. Meanwhile, a new Virtua Fighter marks the end of over a decade of Virtua Fighter 5 stasis, and is a dream come true for fans. These two games are both exciting new frontiers for RGG Studio, and that’s not their only similarity.
Related
Virtua Fighter 6’s Reboot Status is at a Fork in the Road
The long-anticipated revival of the series was announced with Virtua Fighter 6, and the years since its predecessor makes one decision key.
How RGG Studio’s History Informs Its Modern Games
While RGG Studio and its predecessors AM11, R&D4, Amusement Vision, and New Entertainment R&D Dept. have worked on many different games and genres, RGG is mostly associated with the series that gave it its name, Ryu Ga Gotoku. Known in English as Yakuza, the series typically produced action-RPGs that combined intense brawler action with surprisingly involved storytelling and lots of minigames. At least one Yakuza game, or something sharing its gameplay, has been launched every year during RGG Studio and New Entertainment R&D’s existence, and they’ve remained remarkably consistent throughout that time.
The Turning Point For RGG Studio and Like a Dragon
That is, until Yakuza: Like a Dragon was released in 2020. Previous series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu stepped down in favor of Ichiban Kasuga, and not only did Yakuza’s English name also make way for the more accurate Like a Dragon moniker, its gameplay was also replaced. Gone were the real-time hack-and-slash fights of past games, with Like a Dragon 7‘s battles becoming turn-based RPG encounters. Side games such as Like a Dragon Garden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and the Judgement series retain LaD’s old brawler gameplay, but RGG’s signature franchise has otherwise totally reinvented itself.
Virtua Fighter and Project Century Embody An RGG Studio Tradition
One could view the two newest RGG Studio projects as the developer continuing to break new ground, but there is another way to interpret them. Both Virtua Fighter and Project Century retain some form of the classic brawler combat that RGG Studio was known for before 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Neither have implemented real-time combat in the exact way a Like a Dragon game would, with Virtua Fighter standing out as a PvP-based 3D fighting game, but they are much closer to the old norm than LaD 7 and 8 were.
Project Century looks especially similar to Like a Dragon’s old gameplay style, even if it has dialed up the blood and weapon violence greater than the old crime drama franchise previously dared. Virtua Fighter could also end up with a Like a Dragon story and exploration elements thanks to RGG’s involvement, resulting in an LaD-adjacent story mode that’s like a 3D-flavored Street Fighter 6 World Tour. Regardless, it’s good to see RGG Studio’s action game expertise flourish while Like a Dragon follows its own path, with Virtua Fighter and Project Century feeling right at home in the studio’s action-filled library.
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- ESRB
- T For Teen: Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown