Toshihiro Nakoshi, creator of Yakuza/Like a Dragon, says the new game from his studio won't be as big as he thought: 'it is not modern to have the same experiences repeated over and again'

Toshihiro Nakoshi, who started his videogame career at Daytona USA and then created the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Series with Sega, will leave Sega in 2021 to start his own studio for Chinese tech giant NetEase. Nagoshi Studio is yet to announce its name or any other details about its debut title, although Nagoshi previously compared the game to Yakuza, saying that "the scale will be larger".

Even that vague statement does not seem to apply. Nagoshi, in an interview with Famitsu, (machine translated by VGC), walked back this boast, saying "the current version of the game is so large, it's almost to large. While researching existing games, this time we began by creating a large map with highways and roads. We are now gradually shrinking the map and exploring the best balance of the game.

Nagoshi responded to the interviewer's comment that some people prefer a large map. "You could add some elements to create a feeling of density, but having similar experiences repeated repeatedly is not modern."

Most developers of live-service games and singleplayer open worlds would disagree. It's not controversial that even games that have been well received, like Ghost of Tsushima, are criticized for having repetitive activities scattered across their maps. This makes them feel like thin butter on too much toast.

Nagoshi stated, "I feel the era where games are sold based on their volume is coming to an close".

Nagoshi left Sega in 2003 after 32 years. He said that he felt detached from the actual act of making games once he reached "the top management levels" and had no desire for him to climb higher and become the CEO at Sega.