While we still know nearly nothing about Ryu ga Gotoku’s upcoming projects, especially as far as Like a Dragon/Yakuza is concerned, we may have just gotten a hint at something that the studio, or at least a team at SEGA, is working on.
A trademark has been discovered, filed by SEGA, for something called “Yakuza Wars,” which naturally would suggest it aligns with RGG’s long-running series. Of course, companies file trademarks all the time to protect early ideas that never actually eventuate, but there’s a lot of potential implied by a title like this in the scope of the LaD franchise. It could point to a F2P multiplayer spin-off, an RTS/tactics game, a musou or even a new subgame with the next mainline title – or, and it needs to be said again, it could be absolutely nothing.
Previously, RGG had teased its next game by saying, “We can’t tell you what kind of game it is but I will tell you.. you will be surprised,” which lends itself equally to speculation that there’s something quite bold brewing at the studio. As pointed out by @SEEEGA_1982 on X, it also comes after RGG put up a job ad for a Prop Designer for things like “cars and heavy weaponry.”
It’s certainly going to be an exciting future for RGG/Like a Dragon with a live action series adaptation set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in October. Directed by Take Masaharu and Takimoto Kengo, the series will be a six-episode run released in two batches, with the first dropping on October 24th (25th in some regions) and November 1st.
Prime Video recently dropped the first teaser trailer the series, which you can se below:
“I have poured out my heart, soul, and the experience that I have garnered over 35 years into ‘Like a Dragon: Yakuza’,” said director Take Masaharu in a press release when the show was first revealed.