The Yakuza franchise has never been bigger, from the universally acclaimed release of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth earlier this year to a full-blown live-action show on Amazon Prime debuting this Fall. Sega’s melodramatic crime series is having its moment, but developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has never been one to rest on its laurels, constantly pushing the series in bizarre new directions. Now, it looks like that’s about to happen yet again, with a mysterious trademark hinting at a wild new Yakuza spinoff. And considering the series that has both a zombie apocalypse spinoff and a historical Samurai spinoff, we could be in for something truly special.
As spotted by the X (formerly Twitter) account @Wario64, Sega has filed a new trademark for something called “Yakuza Wars.” That’s all we know at the moment, however, it’s especially interesting when paired with recent comments by a spokesperson from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
During the Essence of Fandom panel at Anime Expo, as reported by VGC, a spokesperson said, “We can’t tell you what kind of game it is, but I will tell you, you’ll be surprised.” The term “type of game” is extremely interesting here as it suggests something different from anything else Yakuza has done — and this is a series that has tackled a lot of different genres.
Yakuza has seen action brawlers, turn-based RPGs, third-person shooters, and detective thrillers. That’s not even to mention the cornucopia of minigames that have tackled kart racers, fishing, business management, baseball simulators, karaoke, and much more. This is a series that revels in the weird and constantly subverts expectations with its genre fusions and shifts.
The comment at Anime Expo would suggest the next game is going to be something different for the studio, something we haven’t seen before. What’s particularly interesting is that the trademark is for “Yakuza Wars,” while Sega has pushed in recent years to have the series known as “Like a Dragon” worldwide. This could be the company simply covering all its bases for trademarks, but it could also give us a hint.
Sega also owns Sakura Wars, a steampunk series about a group of young mecha pilots protecting Japan from demons, while also doubling as a theater troupe. As bizarre as some kind of crossover or Sakura Wars-inspired Yakuza game sounds, this is the one series that could probably make it work.
That seems like a bit of a longshot, though, and there are plenty of other opportunities. Interestingly, earlier this week X user @jack840A noticed that RGG Studio was hiring a prop designer to make a variety of props, like cars and heavy weaponry. This could indicate the game is some kind of shooter, or maybe even an urban strategy game.
Yakuza: Dead Souls, released in 2011, was a third-person shooter set in Kamurocho during the zombie apocalypse. It’s possible this mysterious Yakuza Wars game could be taking inspiration from that, or take the same structure for some kind of battle royale or online multiplayer game. We’ve also seen strategy before with Yakuza 6’s Clan Creator minigame, which had players strategically building a small army and commanding units in massive battles.
What’s hilarious is that all of these ideas seem completely viable for Yakuza, and each one could genuinely be incredible if done correctly. Yakuza is one of the few video game series out there that could realistically do just about whatever it wants, and fans would be willing to give it a chance simply because of its track record.
When RGG Studio made Yakuza: Like a Dragon a turn-based RPG it breathed new life into the franchise and turned it into one of Sega’s most beloved properties. It’s clear the studio wants to keep challenging assumptions, and at the moment it feels like anything could be possible.
