Home Sega’s trademark ‘Yakuza Wars’ slips, provoking wild fan theories

Sega’s trademark ‘Yakuza Wars’ slips, provoking wild fan theories

tl;dr

  • Sega has trademarked "Yakuza Wars" in Japan, hinting at a potential new or next game in the Like a Dragon series.
  • Gematsu found the listing, sparking fan theories about it being a real-time strategy game or even a fighting game.
  • The Like a Dragon series, formerly known as Yakuza in the West, has recently pivoted its naming convention with recent titles.
  • 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.

    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

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    Owen Good
    Gaming Editor (US)

    Owen Good is a 15-year veteran of video games writing, also covering pop culture and entertainment subjects for the likes of Kotaku and Polygon. He is a Gaming Editor for ReadWrite working from his home in North Carolina, the United States, joining this publication in April, 2024. Good is a 1995 graduate of North Carolina State University and a 2000 graduate of The Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, in New York. A second-generation newspaperman, Good's career before covering video games included daily newspaper stints in North Carolina; in upstate New York; in Washington, D.C., with the Associated Press; and…

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