Highlighting features unique to the Steam version of Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, it introduces a host of changes that could make it the definitive way to experience Kazuma Kiryu’s tryst with Black Monday. From Trading Cards to a host of graphical upgrades that include support for Frame Generation, uncapped frame rates and Ultrawide Monitors, this one’s shaping up to be a trip down memory lane that Yakuza fans won’t want to miss.

The new upgrades showcase a fluidity to the game’s combat that the original version and its remaster cannot hope to match. Meanwhile, the reworked cutscenes and new fighting styles are sure to have you finding new ways to take down anyone unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end of Kiryu’s punches. There’s also Dark Ties and the chance to play as Yoshitaka Mine in a prequel detailing his rise.

With less than ten days to go before you get to dive in, this is shaping up to be a remake that could erase the title’s past mistakes and cement its place among the franchise’s best additions. It will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 – head here for more details.

Rather, Yamada noted that the studio’s goals with Next Virtua Fighter Project – being its first attempt at the franchise – involves aiming for a Game of the Year nomination when the title eventually comes out. This also means that the studio wants as many players as possible to try it out, and to do so, the game also has to be easy to pick up and play.

“Of course, our goal is to make a game worthy of being nominated for Game of the Year,” said Yamada. “Like the very first Virtua Fighter, we want a title that doesn’t just sit within the ‘fighting game’ mold.”

“The fighting game genre tends to be seen as a special, niche category. But Virtua Fighter actually isn’t like that; it’s easy for anyone to pick up and play, and I think that’s one of its strengths.”

This also means that the studio is taking an almost microscopic approach to its development, ensuring that it is a game that just about anyone can enjoy.

“If a game isn’t something anyone can enjoy, it won’t reach the level of recognition needed to even be considered for GOTY,” he explained. “This is the meaning behind our target of ‘making New Virtua Fighter a GOTY-worthy game.’”

As part of this attempt to ensure that Next Virtua Fighter Project ends up being easy to pick up and play, Yamada also discussed the potential of adding new mechanics, and even removing others. Removing systems comes from his belief that piling on more and more mechanics on top of the game will make it overly complex.

“But if we just keep piling more on top, we’ll end up with a game that’s overly complex,” he explained. “So, with New Virtua Fighter, we need to experiment by cutting away some of the things we’ve built up, as well as bringing in new features.”

“To make these decisions, we’ll keep testing various ideas, but I trust Takeda (VF series battle director Yosuke Takeda) to safeguard the truly important parts (laughs). As someone who’s been making VF forever, he understands this best. Similarly, our programmers and motion designers also know very well what parts of a fighting game absolutely must not be touched. It’s about preserving those core elements while incorporating new ideas.”

Among the new features that will be making their debut with Next Virtua Fighter Project is an entirely new game mode dubbed Uprising mode. While not too many details about this mode have been revealed, Yamada has described it as offering “dynamic momentum-shifting opportunities.” For more details on the core gameplay mechanics powering the upcoming fighting game, check out our coverage of the title’s appearance at Tokyo Game Show 2025.

Next Virtua Fighter Project is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It doesn’t however, have a release date yet.

Interestingly, both of the Kiwami titles will not be getting the enhancements we saw in Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut. This means that, among other things, players will not be getting extra scenes or even English voice acting.

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza made using the same engine as Yakuza 0. Its story takes place in 2005, shortly after protagonist Kiryu has gotten out of prison after having spent ten years there for a crime he didn’t commit. Yakuza Kiwami 2, on the other hand, is a remake of Yakuza 2 made using the Dragon Engine that first made its debut with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. It focuses on the fate of the Tojo Clan following the events of the original Yakuza, and a new threat coming in from Osaka’s Sotenbori district.

Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are both making their way to the Switch 2 on November 13. There will also be a digital bundle that players can pick up that includes both titles.

“The plan is currently being formulated, but we expect the volume of new titles in Full Game to be lower than this fiscal year,” said Sega. “On the other hand, we expect continuous revenue contribution from repeat sales of new titles in Full Game this fiscal year and full-scale revenue contribution from new titles in F2P.”

When Sega says “Full Game”, it refers to its major releases that aren’t free-to-play. This would include its releases like Metaphor: ReFantazio or the upcoming Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.

Sega also discussed its plans to invest in subsidiaries like Atlus, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and Sonic Team. The company wants to expand and strengthen these companies by hiring new talent and via mergers and acquisitions.

“Atlus is an important studio for us to expand Japanese IPs overseas, and we think it is necessary to strengthen it, and the studios involved in the Sonic and Like a Dragon IPs are also short of staff, and we are looking to reinforce personnel through additional hiring and M&A,” said Sega.

The company also revealed that it had sold almost 20 million copies of its newer releases up to December 31, 2024. In the first three quarters of the fiscal year, Sega reported that over two million copies of Sonic X Shadow Generations were sold, while Metaphor: ReFantazio sold over a million copies.

Its older titles have also been incredibly popular, with Persona 5 and Unicorn Overlord being among the games that were part of the 12 million sales of legacy releases.

With its library of IPs growing, Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi had revealed in an interview that the company might get its own subscription service. He described the idea of a subscription service as “very interesting”. Sega is seemingly “evaluating some opportunities” surrounding the idea.

The most recent Sega release has been Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios’ Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The game, available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, puts players in the shoes of an amnesiac Goro Majima who ends up getting involved with gangs of pirates around Hawaii.

Released back in February, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was launched alongside a new game plus mode added through its day one patch. Its launch was a successful one in Japan, selling more than 105,000 physical copies in the country. Over 68,000 sales were for the PS5 version, while about 37,000 copies were sold on PS4.

Sega has also been working on bringing back some of its older franchises. Alongside the recently-revealed Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the company has also confirmed that it is working on new Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio games as well.

As has been known for a while, Like a Dragon Gaiden is the first game in the series that will not feature Darryl Kurylo as the English voice of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. Though Kurylo voiced the character in the original Yakuza and 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it was revealed earlier this year that the character will be voiced by YouTuber and voice actor Yong Yea going forward, including in next year’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Yea’s performance as Kiryu has been the subject of widespread discussion and mixed reception among the series’ fans.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name was released back in November. The game picks up some time after the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, and tells the story of Kiryu’s escapades between the events of that game’s ending, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Kiryu is acting as an agent of the Daidoji Faction, and finds himself embroilled in the machinations of Homare Nishitani III.

For more details, check out our review of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

We're excited to announce the English dub for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is coming in December via a free update!

Stay tuned for more details. pic.twitter.com/Ch1HPfLHpF

— RGG Studio (@RGGStudio) December 5, 2023

Speaking to Fanbyte, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio boss Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed how the release and success of Ghost of Tsushima emboldened RGG Studio to remake Like a Dragon: Ishin!.

“We saw how well Ghost of Tsushima did, and how it was about this very Japanese setting made by Americans, so that gave us confidence Ishin could do well in America too,” said Yokoyama.

Far from the only game using a Japanese setting, Ghost of Tsushima’s success is what likely convinced RGG Studio that western audiences definitely have an interest in games set in historic Japan.

Yakuza series producer Daisuke Sato even said as much back in 2021. In light of the success Ghost of Tsushima saw in terms of both critical as well as commercial response, Sato stated that this could eventually lead to Ryu Ga Gotoku: Kenzan and Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin! getting released in the west as well.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is set for release on February 21, and will be coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is set to be a complete remake of the original Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin!. According to a post on the official PlayStation Blog, Like a Dragon: Ishin! will be making use of Unreal Engine 4, unlike games like Yakuza 6, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Judgement, and Lost Judgement, which used the Dragon Engine.

Like a Dragon: Ishin!, while starring many of the most notable characters from the Yakuza franchise, instead takes place in an alternate setting. The game is set during the chaotic Bakumatsu phase of Japan’s Late Edo Period in the 1860s, and will tell the story of the end of the samurais and the shogunate.

The game puts players in the shoes of Ryoma Sakamoto who is out for revenge after the murder of his mentor and father figure. Sakamoto goes undercover, using the name Saito Hajime, and infiltrates the police force of the time—the Shinsengumi.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is slated for release in February 2023.

Now, however, we seem to have gotten our first brief glimpses of it- though not through official channels, interestingly enough. As spotted and reported by Famitsu, MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura recently uploaded a video (which you can check out below) in which he tours RGG Studios.

The video not only showed off-screen images from the game showcasing a number of familiar characters (including Ichiban sporting a new hairstyle), but also featured Sega president Haruki Satomi confirming that the game will feature a new town as well. The aforementioned Asakura will also appear as a character in the game.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has previously also confirmed that the next Yakuza game will be another turn-based RPG, similar to Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

The developer is currently also working on multiple unannounced games besides Yakuza. Read more on that through here.

ROCKSTAR (GRAND THEFT AUTO, RED DEAD REDEMPTION)

Rockstar has always excelled at storytelling, and their talents have only become that much more prominent as time has gone on. Grand Theft Auto 5’s bombastic storytelling style shines through in each of its cutscenes, but the game where the studio really flexes its muscles is Red Dead Redemption 2. It hits so many notes, and hits nearly all of them perfectly- adrenaline-fueled action, quiet moments of introspection, sweeping views of gorgeous vistas, lighthearted moments of humour, and so much more.

Since they first revealed the Xbox Series S, Microsoft have stressed that the console is more focused on higher frame rates and smoother performance than it is on higher resolution images- which makes sense, given its price. That, of course, means that generally will be a significant gulf in the resolution a game will achieve on the Xbox Series S and on the Series X. 

Recently, Sega revealed new details on what resolutions and frame rates the upcoming Yakuza: Like a Dragon will target on both upcoming Xbox consoles, and that gulf seems pretty significant in this case in particular. These details came during a recent Yakuza live stream, from Sega PR’s Zack Reese, who was answering questions in the chat. On the Xbox Series S, the game will target 1440p at 30 FPS in the visuals mode, and 900p at 60 FPS.

The 900p resolution in performance mode is, of course, what stands out there, and seems like a far cry from the resolution you’d expect a game on a next-gen console should be targeting. Of course, if the performance is smooth, that might end up making up for most other deficiencies. 

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is out on November 10 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Stadia. It will see a belated release on the PS5, on March 2 next year, and won’t support PS4 to PS5 save transfers.