Yakuza Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama on the Future of the Series

Iyane Agossah March 20, 2020 3:36 PM EST

Masayoshi Yokoyama shared some hints on the future of the Yakuza series following PlayStation 4 exclusive Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon Chief Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama shared some thoughts on the future of the Yakuza series through an interview with 4Gamer. The interview also features Japanese wrestler Danshoku Dino, a huge fan of the Yakuza series, and is full of spoilers. It’s geared toward those who cleared Yakuza: Like a Dragon, as the game has been out for two months now in Japan.

Danshoku Dino is writing columns for 4Gamer since as far as 2009, and this interview is a follow-up to one of his columns about how awesome Yakuza: Like a Dragon is:

The interview is mostly Danshoku Dino sharing his impressions on the game, with Yokoyama commenting on each aspect. They chat about the story and how it was written, the ending, the RPG battle system and how it was balanced, the appearances of past Yakuza games characters, the minigames, the Pachislots, the Arena, the company management… I’m not paid enough to make a summary of the whole interview, but if you can understand some Japanese and have already imported and cleared Ryu Ga Gotoku 7, it’s a great read. I’ve only skimmed through it myself to avoid spoilers.

Anyway. Near the end of the interview, Masayoshi Yokoyama was asked about the future of the Yakuza series and what’s going to happen with the next game. Here’s his answer.

Masayoshi Yokoyama: “Basically, what we’ll do next will depend on players’ feedback on Ryu Ga Gotoku 7. How the series goes and whether we make a sequel or not is ultimately decided by the players. 7 is a new start for the series, so we could do anything now. We could do a Ryu Ga Gotoku 8, an unnumbered game, a game with multiple protagonists, or a spin-off. But personally speaking, I want to keep depicting Ichiban’s story. One game wasn’t enough for it.”

Sega’s Chief Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi recently shared some words on the future of the Yakuza series as well. Judging from both men’s comments, the most likely scenario for the next game following Yakuza: Like a Dragon is to keep Ichiban Kasuga as the protagonist along with the turn-based RPG system.

Sega recently announced Yakuza: Like a Dragon shipped over 400,000 copies for now. Toshihiro Nagoshi spoke about the game’s sales numbers as well. Besides Danshoku Dino, many longtime fans of the series highly praised Yakuza: Like a Dragon, including Fairy Tail‘s Hiro Mashima.

PS4 exclusive Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 Hikari to Yami no Yukue is already out in Japan since January 16, and the next update will add a New Game Plus and a new difficulty mode. The game is coming west sometime in 2020, rebranded Yakuza: Like a Dragon. You can check out the game’s launch trailer in Japan below. And be sure to check out our guide for the Yakuza series.

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