Yakuza: Like a Dragon sequel confirmed as series creator departs

A Yakuza: Like a Dragon sequel is in development, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has revealed in a new blog post.

Earlier today on October 8, the long-time Yakuza developer published a new blog post revealing internal personnel changes at the studio. As part of these changes, Masayoshi Yokoyama has been promoted to director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and used his message in the blog post to reveal that a sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon is currently in development.

Yokoyama reveals that the sequel to Like a Dragon will continue the story of protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, who took the reigns from Kazuma Kiryu in the 2020 RPG. "This game is currently being developed by producer Sakamoto and directors Horii, Ito and Mitake. I myself along with Takeuchi and Furuta are working on the story," Yokoyama writes, adding that when they eventually reveal the game, the studio wants it to feel "different but the same."

This all comes off the unfortunate news that longstanding Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio heads Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato are both departing the studio, as well as parent company Sega. Nagoshi has been at Sega/RGG Studio since 1992, working on titles like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, before spearheading the Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball franchises, later branching out into overseeing countless franchises at Sega, including Valkyria Chronicles, Sonic, Hatsune Miku, and more.

Sato, on the other hand, joined Sega just a few years after Nagoshi, working on a similar range of arcade titles, before branching out into production and art/character design for the Yakuza series at large. Neither Nagoshi or Sato comment on where they'll be headed next in the farewell post from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, but a Bloomberg report earlier this year that Nagoshi would be departing Sega for a new, senior role with Chinese developer NetEase.

Two stalwarts of the Yakuza franchise may be gone, but there are still countless veterans helping shape the future of the series with Ichiban Kasuga. A report earlier this year confirmed that future games in the Yakuza series would retain Like a Dragon's style of turn-based combat over Kiryu's action-brawling mayhem, and as we said in our original Yakuza: Like a Dragon review back in late 2020, it's a "confident step in a different direction" for the brilliant series.

If you're still playing through RGG Studio's RPG, head over to our guide on Yakuza: Like a Dragon exam answers for how to ace your studies.