Yakuza name officially dead, Sega changes branding

The first Yakuza the game was released back in 2006 and the branding was last used in the 2020s. Yakuza: Like a Dragon. In eight major issues and a number of spin-offs, the name has become synonymous with formal suits, hour-long cutscenes, and motorcycles crashing into dudes’ faces. BBut as Sega prepares to welcome a whole new generation of games into the series, it is also choosing this moment to say goodbye to the title.

You may have noticed that the new games announced earlier this week range from historical spin-offs to modern spin-offs to the ninth installment of the main series.they all had something in common: Sega called them all ‘Like a dragon‘ and we still called them ‘Yakuza.’ It was pskillful, because old habits are hard to break, but also because we know that just as we still call them Yakuza games like most of you (I even mean Judgment games like Yakuza names, simply because it helps).

However, I contacted Sega today to clarify this and their response was clear: Yakuza the name is no more. For these three games, and for every new game in the series going forward, they will all carry “Like a dragoninstead, branding so that they, I was told, would “more closely match the Japanese name”.

Japanese players will surely wonder what is the matter, because in the homeland of the series both the games themselves and the developer studio behind them, always was named Ryuga Gotoku/龍が如, which in English means…Like a dragon. So in Japan there will be no need for changes, only western releases will have new branding.

As you can see now Yakuza 7 full name in the WestYakuza: Like a Dragon– actually there was a bit of a mess, but like the game itself seemed at the timeit was also the perfect way to say goodbye to the old Yakuza name, while at the same time facilitating us all in Like a dragon future.

Goodbye, Yakuzaand thanks for all the memories. You were definitely shorter, sharper and more fun than Like a dragon.