More presentations in parallel for Tokyo Game Show and now it is Sega’s turn via their first party studio RRG or Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and this is all what we can expect from the Yakuza franchise that is probably more than just the name.

The announcement was preceded with the confirmation that what started with Yakuza 7 on the west is now a reality in the east as Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio confirmed that the game is being rebranded as Like A Dragon from now on regardless if it is Japan or not.

Practically the sense of this is that “Ryu Ga Gotoku” translates to “Like A Dragon” in English, but it seems that Sega didn’t foresaw how big the Yakuza franchise would become when selecting “Yakuza” as the name, so we got full circle here.

First and already debuted on State Of Play of Sept 13, 2023 is • Like a Dragon: Ishin where I wrote that is a game that explores the end of the Samurai era of Feudal Japan at the Bakumatsu period, but did not mentioned that it was a Yakuza, now Like a Dragon name and I thought it was a name play by Sega to be honest.

Next is the proper sequel of Yakuza Like A Dragon (Yakuza 7 in Japan) and is Like a Dragon 8, where the gameplay is already confirmed to be a traditional turn-based RPG focusing on Kiryu & Ichiban as main characters and bound for a 2024 release.

The last announced new game is actually another spinoff of Like a Dragon and is Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name, bound for next years, takes place between the ending of Yakuza 6 and Like A Dragon 8, all from Kiryu perspective.

RRG confirmed that all the announced games are for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

About Judgment 

In an update for the Judgment franchise, a Yakuza inspired spinoff, the game got its sequel, Lost Judgment, arriving to PC via Steam and can be bought individually or part of a Judgment collection including the first game.