Sega has confirmed three new Yakuza games, including the next chapter of the mainline game and two new spin-offs – watch the trailers below:
After a lot of speculation and a slow drip-feeding of information including images and the return of Ichiban, Yakuza 8 (AKA Like A Dragon 8) has now been confirmed to be released in 2024.
The followup to Yakuza 7 will see Kiryu star alongside Ichiban and, according to executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama is “going to be the largest (Yakuza) game to date.”
“The game is about Kiryu who has all of his past on his back and Ichiban who has all of the future ahead of him. We felt we had to bring back Kiryu for that theme,” he continued before adding that the game is very much still in development. “We’re still in the process of recording the lines.”
Ahead of Tokyo Game Show, Sega has also confirmed two Yakuza spin-off titles. The first, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, will follow the story of former gangster Kiryu Kazuma from the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life up until Like a Dragon 8.
Currently set for release in 2023, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will be a smaller scale game than the main entries in the Yakuza series, and will return to the action-adventure brawling gameplay of earlier games, as opposed to the RPG combat of Yakuza 8.
The second Yakuza spin-off is Like A Dragon: Ishin which is due out February 2023 and is the first title from RGG Studio to be built on Unreal Engine 4.
According to the announcement from PlayStation, “Like a Dragon: Ishin is an action-adventure historical thriller set uniquely in 1860s Kyo, a fictionalized version of Kyoto. While other games tell earlier stories in Japanese history, Ishin lets you experience the story of how the iconic samurai era vanished. Our hero, Sakamoto Ryoma, is a true historical figure largely credited with overthrowing the shogunate and taking Japan into a radical reformation.”
Following the showcase, Sega also revealed that Ryu Ga Gotoku’s Judgement and Lost Judgement games are getting a surprise PC launch today (September 14).
In other news, Tekken 8 was officially announced during Sony‘s State Of Play broadcast last night (September 13).
A dramatic trailer for the forthcoming title sees Kazuya and Jin Kazama fighting each other in an atmospheric environment. As the pair face off, they also battle torrential rain, a tornado, lightning and raging fires.
The Tekken 8 logo then emerges from a broken and burning chain. A message beneath the graphic tells gamers to “stay tuned” for further updates. The release date for the new game is not yet known.
