Today’s issue of Weekly Famitsu included an interview with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama, who talked about the future of the Yakuza series and more.
Yokoyama-san, who confirmed that the next chapter of the story is going to be a numbered title but did mention that “Yakuza 8” is tentative, shared a few interesting details.
The story will still follow Ichiban Kasuga (who will still be the main hero), but it’ll happen a number of years after the story of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It’ll still be set in a similar timeframe as the game’s release, as it’s tradition for the series. For reference, Yakuza: Like a Dragon was set in 2019.
Yokoyama-san also mentions that Yakuza: Like a Dragon gave the studio a lot of confidence, and it felt natural to announce the new organization of the team after that. He was very happy to see that Ichiban Kasuga has been welcomed as the new hero both in Japan and in the west.
Having managed to overcome the large hurdle of changing the protagonist contributed to the solidity of the studio as an organization.
At the moment the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is working hard on Yakuza 8, but they also want to continue taking care of the Judgment series. There are many Judgment fans who are looking forward to a sequel, so Yokoyama-san has high hopes for it.
On top of that, besides Yakuza and Judgment, the studio is also working on other games that haven’t been announced yet.