In an exciting turn of events, it was revealed to the world last month that fans of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise would be getting a number of new games. At the time, the next mainline instalment in the series was revealed as being called Like A Dragon 8. However, according to a new interview, that name isn’t completely set in stone just yet.
While it is true that the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s flagship series is rebranding its Yakuza titles in the West to share their Japanese version of “Like A Dragon,” the exact title of the new game hasn’t yet been decided. In a new interview with Automaton Media during last month’s Tokyo Game Show and spotted by GamesRadar, the studio head at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Masayoshi Yokoyama expanded a bit on the new game and its potential name change.
With Like A Dragon 8 being a follow-up game to 2020’s Yakuza: Like A Dragon, it may well be that the new game could be titled similarly, perhaps as Yakuza: Like a Dragon 2 or simply just Like a Dragon 2. Yokoyama also reveals in the interview that the naming process is still ongoing, explaining that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio often takes time to observe audience reactions to different titles, especially amongst audiences in the West. After that, it’ll settle on a name that users have responded most positively to, and especially choose one which demonstrates minimal confusion amongst audiences.
Like A Dragon worked well as a subtitle for the last Yakuza game, which has helped to segue the franchise’s overall shift towards the Like A Dragon brand name, dropping the Yakuza name as a part of the series going forward. With overall positive responses amongst Western players to the 2020 game, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio felt emboldened to make the switch to the Like A Dragon name convention for the next game, as well as for the additional new Like A Dragon titles that were revealed alongside Like A Dragon 8, or whatever it will eventually be known as.
These were revealed to be Like A Dragon: Ishin! and Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, two new games featuring the much-loved characters from the existing Yakuza universe. Like A Dragon: Ishin! takes place in 1867 in the fictional city of Kyo, with series poster boy Kazuma Kiryu taking on the mantle of the protagonist Sakamoto Ryoma. Kiryu also makes another appearance, this time as himself, in Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. This game will follow what happened to Kiryu in between the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and the time period leading up to Like a Dragon 8. It’s a very exciting time to be a fan of the franchise, whatever the new game will be called.
Like A Dragon 8 will be released at some point in 2024. It’ll be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC via Windows and Steam.
