Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Layoff Storyline Feels ‘Too Soon’

At the onset of Infinite Wealth, it’s revealed that Ichiban’s no longer living constantly on the back foot because he finally has a job at a company called Hello Works. Hello Works, which was first introduced in Yakuza: Like A Dragon, is an employment office in Ijincho that Ichiban and his pal Yu Nanba utilized to gain employment when they were homeless. Gameplay-wise, Hello Work was also cleverly used to explain how each party member would earn and level up job skills with Yakuza’s new turn-based Dragon Quest-inspired battle system.

It’s also revealed that Ichiban is utilizing his position at Hello Work to assist former yakuza members fill out their resumes and applying for civilian jobs after the sudden dissolution of the Tojo clan at the tail-end of the previous game.

For Ichiban, he sees it as giving back and paying it forward to his Yakuza boss and deceased father, Masumi Arakawa, who wanted the Yakuza’s dissolution to allow his subordinates to make an honest living outside of Japan’s criminal underworld. If I recall, I wrote in my review notes “He just like me for real” because of how much I sympathized with how Iciban’s outlook mirrored my own when I broke into the industry intending to implement Solutions Journalism in the space when addressing the doom and gloom that hangs over reading and working in the games industry.

All that to say, life for Ichiban was on the upswing. Folks on the street greet him as the hero of Yokohama, his employees respect his earnest efforts to improve at his job, and his yakuza clients are appreciative of his ability to apply their unorthodox skills into the labor force. The next day Ichiban shows up to work, he’s been laid off just like I was.

After only two years and two months of writing gaming news and reviews, interviewing voice actors I could only dream of meeting, and covering big anime events, I was suddenly laid off from Kotaku last November. I’d be lying if I said the waves of petrifying despair don’t routinely lap me under its undertow. Being laid off broke me in ways I’m still trying to find ways to fix.

While it’s become uncomfortably commonplace to hear about mass layoffs at media companies, this short-sighted trend has recently reared its ugly head into games, tech, and beyond. As of the time of publication, the gaming industry has seen roughly 5,932 layoffs. These layoffs include companies like Microsoft, Riot Games, Behavior Interactive, Unity, and Twitch to name a few. Whereas Ichiban later uncovers the cruel reason behind his unemployment, folks in the real world are rarely offered that luxury. At best, people are told, “Good luck on your future endeavors” in an exit interview. At worst, they wake up in a cold sweat to the news on social media. Either way, layoffs suck.

The only bit of solace I had at the time was the fact that I’d soon be able to enjoy some time with Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu while reviewing Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. But now one of its heroes, who saw so much promise in a job he loved, was in the same place I am.

Unlike my layoff experience—which was so abrupt I had little opportunity to exchange goodbyes with my coworkers— Ichiban received ample time for solemn farewells with his coworkers. Those farewells twinged with the same uncomfortable weight of well-meaning platitudes about things turning around for the better when he inevitably finds new work. Throughout it all, Ichiban braves a grateful smiling face thanking his former coworkers. But once Ichiban is given a moment alone outside of his office building, he breaks down. “Everything’s right back to how it used to be,” he says to himself.

But Infinite Wealth had one more kicker for me when the next text prompt appeared:

Kasusga’s job has changed from Hello Worker to Freelancer.