After a board meeting, Sega published some changes in its director and officer roles on January 29, most notably revealingYakuzaseries producer Toshihiro Nagoshi will retire from his CCO (Chief Creative Officer) role at Sega. Toshihiro Nagoshi will stay at Sega as a Creative Director, and will retire as CCO at the beginning of the next fiscal year in Japan, on April 1st, 2021. (Thanks toFamitsufor pointing it out).Yukio Suginois replacing Toshihiro Nagoshi as new COO.Haruki Satomi, current CEO of Sega, will also be appointed as group CEO and president of parent company Sega Sammy Holdings. His father and founder of Sammy Corporation, Hajime Satomi, will be appointed as chairman. Other changes are happening as well, the usual when the new fiscal year starts in Japan.Sega, however has been going through several big changes lately. Such asselling the ownershipof its amusement and game centers in Japan, and going through severalrestructuringmoves, all due to the still ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The news was shared by Sega through its official Japanese Twitter, with anoticeon the official site of Sega Sammy group.
Toshihiro Nagoshi joined Sega in 1989 and was involved in several Yu Suzuki games such asVirtua RacingandVirtua Fighter.He also made several iconic Sega titles such asDaytona USAand theSuper Monkey Ballseries.
Nowadays,Nagoshi is known worldwide as the main creator of theYakuzaseries, also known asRyu Ga Gotokuin Japan. TheYakuzaseries celebrated its15th anniversaryin 2020 and is incredibly popular, withover 14 million copies sold worldwideas of December 2020. The latest game,Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is available onPS4,Xbox One,Xbox Series X, andPC, with aPS5version coming March 2. TheYakuza Remastered Collection, already available on PS4, just launched on Xbox and PC as well.
Toshihiro Nagoshi became CCO of Sega in 2012 and heavily participated in the comeback of several cult Sega IPs such asSakura Taisenand the newSakura Warsgame on PS4. Nagoshi most notably directed the game’s reveal trailer himself, using his knowledge in film production.
Toshihiro Nagoshi also appears on monthly live streamSegaNamatogether withAyana Tsubaki. We regularly cover these on DualShockers, as Nagoshi often shares interesting insight. Be it on thedesign of the PS5,working conditionsat Sega,gameandconsolesales, or popular games such asGhost of Tsushima.
Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Masayoshi Yokoyama bothalready statedthe nextYakuzagame is in development. Lastly, in Japan, the mobile and PC gacha gameRyu Ga Gotoku Onlineis still ongoing.
To learn more on Toshihiro Nagoshi, I’d first recommend reading this chapter ofPassion of the Game Designersby Keiichi Tanaka, romanticizing Nagoshi’s early days at Sega.
