It looks like we have a general idea of what to expect with Toshihiro Nagoshi’s newest IP at his brand new studio. The developer spoke with German publication 4Players, which was translated by Video Game Chronicles. In the interview, Nagoshi states that his new IP would not stray too far from his most well known series; Yakuza. Nagoshi reiterated that while he could not give any concrete information at this moment, he did mention that he wants his new IP to be viewed more like a “Quentin Tarantino film.”
Nagoshi states that his new IP will have violence to an extent, but will also incorporate themes of humor and emotion at the same time. “I want a human touch, a bit of silliness, and a bit of seriousness, that’s what I’m in the mood for at the moment.” Nagoshi didn’t give any information on when the game would be revealed, but he did mention that the fans “probably won’t have to wait too much longer” indicating that we could see an official announcement fairly soon. As we mentioned earlier, this style is very similar to Nagoshi’s Yakuza franchise when he was working at Sega and is very much a trademark style of his as a developer.
Nagoshi’s departure from Sega was reported year ago this month and was a bit of a shock to the gaming community. This was mostly due to the resurgence of the Yakuza franchise in the western region, which had quickly become one of the most popular series in recent memory. This was emphasized by the mammoth success of their most recent entry, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which was lauded for its innovative change in gameplay mechanics while keeping the violence and humor intact. Sega intends to keep the Yakuza series going as we recently saw some initial images via behind the scenes video of Yakuza 8. As of this writing Sega has not made an official reveal, and hopefully they’ll unveil it in the coming months.