Yakuza: Like a Dragon recently released in the west, though players who want to enjoy the game on PS5 still have a while to wait before it can become a reality. With that in mind, though, the developer is already looking ahead to the future, as it’s now confirmed that a new Yakuza game is already underway.
Despite the unexpected change from a traditional beat-’em-up style brawler to RPG, Yakuza: Like a Dragon has widely been well received, both in Japan and the west. While it remains to be seen if the formula will extend to the future or not, it’s clear that SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio aren’t letting the series rest for long.
The news comes way of a recent Yakuza 15th anniversary livestream that was held to celebrate the series’ long run thus far. In addition to highlighting the history of the series, the livestream offered a few announcements of tie-ins with other franchises and merchandise being released for the series. However, one of the most exciting announcements came near the end, where the Chief Creative Officer of SEGA revealed that the next game is already being worked on by the development teams at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Yakuza Studio.
Unfortunately, no further information was shared regarding the game. Players are stuck wondering if the next game will be a proper sequel to Like a Dragon, or perhaps a spin-off or remake, like with prior iterations of the franchise. While it’s not uncommon for the developer to release multiple games under the banner of the Yakuza series over the course of one or two years, that may not be the case here, as COVID-19 has likely had an impact on the development team like it has everywhere else in the world since early 2020.
Kazuma Kiryu’s voice actor was in attendance during the livestream and briefly spoke about the character’s role in the series, indicating that he was unsure if Kiryu would return as Yakuza series protagonist or even appear in the games again in the future. While the developers had previously referred to Yakuza 6 as the closure of his story, and fans seem to be taking to new series protagonist Ichiban Kasuga very well, it’s likely that long-term fans of the series would find it difficult to imagine a continuing Yakuza universe without the character that started it all.
What is clear, however, is that audiences appear to be quite eager for more entries to the franchise. The livestream had a good turnout of viewers, both Japanese and English-speaking alike, and the recent sales of the series have been climbing faster than before, with a 2-million unit increase in sales over the course of a single year. After an initially bumpy launch in the west early on the series’ history, overseas players have come to enjoy the franchise more in recent years, particularly since the release of Yakuza 0 and the Kiwami remakes.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, with a PS5 release set for March 2, 2021.
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