Troublemaker 2 Devs Got Encouragement From RGG Studio For Their Yakuza-Like Game

It's always nice when an indie game does well enough to get a sequel, and that's very much the case with Indonesian Yakuza-like Troublemaker 2 Beyond Dream. 

Speaking to Gamecom CEO Nanda at IGDX, the game's been on a whirlwind tour- hitting up Tokyo Game Show, Level Up KL and even their home turf at IGDX, they've been in full force promoting the recently-released game. 

"From the beginning in 2020, I already have a long-term plan, you know, like 10-year plan. I already make, like, I want to make this game, this game and this game. So, Troublemaker 2 is just one of those plans, you know, like, after Troublemaker 1, okay, we success, we build the community. Why not, we just start the second one? Because it's part of the long-term plan", he says.

How did Nanda call this shot? Well, part of it is because he's not an industry newcomer. Instead, he said it was his previous experience in an established studio that helped him plan realistic goals and expectations to carry out his multi-game plans. 

"I knew how to do it, actually, from the beginning", he says. "So, I just said, okay, Gamecom is a specialist in action, comedy game, something like that. So it's like, these are the games that we will make in 10 years. So, I just make a plan and do it".

Building Up The Gamecom Team Rep

It's not just about putting three games out, though. Nanda says the escalation is entirely intentional in working towards the games they ultimately want to make. 

"Because the first one, the first Troublemaker, the mission is just to, okay, we need to go viral. Just viral for the first time", Nanda says. 

"We knew as a studio in Indonesia, nobody know us, nobody know our game. So, we just need to go viral and Troublemaker is already viral. So, okay, we did it. We do our mission, succeed. So, just, okay, next plan, what? Make a better game".

Of course, it's impossible to play the Troublemaker series and not compare it to the Like A Dragon and Yakuza series. According to Nanda, he made the original Troublemaker to specifically fill that niche- for people who want more Yakuza action despite RGG Studio's blistering output of one game a year.

He says he owed a lot of the Troublemaker's success to not just Indonesian players, but Southeast Asians in general. Its broad strokes were near-universal in appeal, even getting the team the Grand Jury award at Level Up KL 2025. 

"The setting is Indonesia, but we have a similarity with the, maybe with jokes, with the story, with the culture, you know, like, okay, Indonesia is just a setting, but the culture is Southeast Asia", he says. 

"That's what we want the player to feel about our game. And, we actually nailed it when a lot of Malaysian gamers play Troublemaker 2. A lot of, you know, we got some Thailand, Thailand student, Vietnam student, just coming to our booth. They say, hey, we love Troublemaker. You make the second one".

When asked if he'd ever met anyone from the team, he shared a special surprise: Actual developers from RGG Studio actually checked out the game, even wishing the team success with their project. 

"Fun fact, [Hiroyuki] Sakamoto-san, the producer of Yakuza, follows our social media. A lot of Ryu Ga Gotoku and SEGA, just, when we go to Tokyo Game Show, came to our booth, say, hey, good luck with your game" he says with pride. 

"I met Yokoyama-san, too. He said, good luck with your game. So, I mean, we nailed it to build this".