Yakuza star Kazuma Kiryu would beat up John Wick, according to Yakuza director

How to Recruit Kiryu and Majima in Yakuza Like A Dragon
(Image credit: Sega)

Yakuza star Kazuma Kiryu would easily beat John Wick in a fight according to the series director.

In a recent interview with The Gamer, Kazuki Hosokawa - who worked on Yakuza 0, Yakuza 5, Judgment, Lost Judgement, and more - explained who he thought would win in a fight between Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and legendary assassin John Wick. 

"So [Kazuma Kiryu] isn’t really a human, so it’s hard to have an equal battle with John Wick," Hosokawa considers, "I think Kiryu is probably stronger than John Wick because you can’t kill him even after shooting him with a gun" he answers. 

Not wanting to leave anyone out, Hosokawa also brings Lost Judgement protagonist Takayuki Yagami into the scenario adding "on the other hand, Yagami is human, he isn’t superhuman like Kiryu, and since John Wick is pretty good with knives and guns, I don’t think he’ll have a chance against him" so, now you know. 

Elsewhere in the interview, Hosokawa talks about the future of Yakuza and Lost Judgement developer, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, noting that he hopes to continue with worldwide releases for future games. He also brings up the idea of exploring new games in the Yakuza series that take place outside of Japan, bringing familiar characters to new countries for more Yakuza-style shenanigans. 

Lost Judgement is due to release on September 24, 2021, on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The latest game in the Yakuza series, however, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, was released last year and was such a success that it has shaped the future of the series according to the series creator. 

Looking to get into the Yakuza series but have no idea where to start? Take a look at our list of the best Yakuza games, ranked list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.