Sega has trademarked “Yakuza Wars” in Japan, and while nothing is confirmed (much less even announced) it looks like an upcoming game in the series, if not the next game in the series.
Gematsu found the listing and noted it over the weekend. The gaming publication noted it could be an all new game or a mark associated with the next Like a Dragon game it is believed to be working on.
出願日:2024-07-26
出願人:株式会社セガ,SEGA CORPORATION
区分:第9類(機械器具),第41類(教育・娯楽)
商品役務:家庭用テレビゲーム機用プログラム ほか108
OCRテキスト2:YAKUZA WARS
続き https://t.co/QwGB718ZsW pic.twitter.com/k54IFk0l0H— 商標ウォッチbot (@tmark365) August 4, 2024
It’s not so clear cut because the Yakuza series was Like a Dragon’s (Ryu Ga Gotoku) name for its western audience. Things pivoted with 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and it’s gone by Like a Dragon in the west with 2023’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and 2024’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
What kind of game is Yakuza Wars?
Whatever the case, this did not go unnoticed by Like a Dragon fans, who are already stirring up theories about what this entails.
Part of this comes from a developer’s comment at a fan convention a month ago that “We can’t tell you what kind of game it is, but I will tell you, you’ll be surprised.”
Fan theories on Reddit are ranging from the next full entry in the series to a real-time strategy (RTS) adaptation, which would be quite the wildcard. Still, the presence of “Wars” in the title follows the naming convention of a lot of RTSes. Other fans are holding out faint hope it’s a fighting game.
Featured image via RGG Studio/Sega