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The Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit aired today, giving us a good look at the future of the Yakuza series. Or, rather, the Like a Dragon series, as it seems it will be known in the West now.

The "Like a Dragon" name was first used for Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, the most recent Yakuza release. That game was the first to not feature Kiryu Kazuma in a playable role, instead shifting focus to new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, and also moved to a turn-based RPG combat style rather than the action-brawler style of the previous games.

One of the new games announced by Ryu Ga Gotoku today will be a return to form after these changes. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will focus on Kiryu Kazuma and his activities while he was out of the spotlight, and will feature a return to the action gameplay. It is expected to release sometime in 2023 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.

Also announced today was the next mainline entry in the series, titled Like a Dragon 8. It will feature Kiryu Kazuma and Ichiban Kasuga in a dual protagonist role, but it's unknown what the gameplay will look like. It is expected to release sometime in 2024 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.

Following up on its announcement in Sony's State of Play yesterday, we also got some more details on Like a Dragon: Ishin! Ishin! released exclusively in Japan for the PS3 and PS4 in 2014, and adapted the Yakuza formula to the Late Edo Period. This new version has been "rebuilt from the ground up" and will be the first time the game has been released in the West. It is expected to release in February 2023 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.

Finally, while not officially announced at the RGG summit, it looks like their Judgment series may also get ported to PC soon. These games have been console-exclusive since their launch, but @Nibellion on Twitter spotted some ESRB ratings for the series on PC, indicating a possible future release.

[UPDATE]: SEGA surprise-released both Judgment and Lost Judgment on Steam shortly after the RGG Summit ended.

 

[guisadop]

Judgment has just been released on Steam

 

[rantex92]

finaly we can play ishin without going through compiling hell to play the googletranslated version

 

[relauby]

Judgment has just been released on Steam

Oh shit that was fast. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[subworx]

Love the Ishin! trailer.
I first wondered when I saw the Yakuza guy (Sera?) talking to not-Kiryu, but as soon as I saw Akiyama and then Majima, I laughed hard
Really cool, so much new stuff to check out.
Finished Y0-Y5, currently beating Y6.
And by the time I finished Like A Dragon and the Judgments, one of the other games may be released \o/

 

[djpannda]

Judgment and Lost Judgement is out of Steam. ...!

 

[subworx]

Judgment and Lost Judgement is out of Steam. ...!

Did you even read the whole news or the first reply?

 

[djpannda]

Did you even read the whole news or the first reply?

yess.. my statement was one of Excitement not informational... hence the '!"

 

[SilverWah]

I'll still call it yakuza but hey we're finally getting the excusive ps3 samurai part so that's nice.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

The world's most overrated series

 

[ZeroFX]

Hope they'll release ishin (then kenzan) with no censorship, great games i played on the PS3.

 

[ut2k4master]

The world's most overrated series

underrated*

 

[ut2k4master]

I'll still call it yakuza but hey we're finally getting the excusive ps3 samurai part so that's nice.

thats kenzan and thats still not coming to the west or newer platforms

 

[xdarkx]

[UPDATE]: SEGA surprise-released both Judgment and Lost Judgment on Steam shortly after the RGG Summit ended.

Cool, but they both have Denuvo.