Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza Team Talk Game’s Origins and Tone

It’s fascinating to see how the Yakuza-focused franchise from SEGA went from being a rather “niche” series to becoming one of the publisher’s greatest hits. It was a slow burn, by all accounts, but it worked! That’s what matters most. The next entry in the saga is Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, which will feature fan-favorite character Goro Majima in the lead role, as he ends up in Hawaii with amnesia and decides to become a pirate! Sure, why not? Anyway, the game will feature naval battles, crew battles, and many other things that tie to both pirate lore and Hawaiian culture.

However, do you wonder how the game came about in the first place? As noted by The Gamer, SEGA held a special preview event for the title headed up by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto. He was there for a group Q&A that The Gamer and others were at, and it was there that he revealed the unique origins of the title:

“September of 2023, right as we were releasing Infinite Wealth, was when we came up with the project. We wanted to create this story based in Hawaii, to create a story around Majima and this whole area of Hawaii. This would let us create a very timely game and be able to create it in a shorter amount of time, and would let us focus on the story approach while using a lot of the assets from Hawaii as well.”

It makes sense that things would be that simple. The reason this franchise continues to gain influence is due to how quickly RGG cranks out titles, and a simple premise of going to Hawaii with Goro is all you need to make something unique.

The studio chief also noted some other key details about the title. For example, Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii will fill in the gaps between the 8th and 9th mainline title, while also only being about 17 hours long. So, it’s larger than the last spinoff game of its kind, but not as long as a mainline game.

As for the title’s tone, you need only look at the main character to get the answer to that:

“It’s Majima. You can’t make a serious Majima game, really. If we’re trying to make a game based around him, it’s got to be over the top. You can’t have Majima and then try to make a really rounded emotional story.”

Makes sense to us!