During the RGG Direct Livestream, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director and executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama confirmed that the previously leaked Yakuza Kiwami 3 was indeed real and set to release in February of next year. A remake of Yakuza 3 using the Dragon Engine, the title features lead character Kazuma Kiryu leaving the mean streets of Tokyo to take over as the head of the orphanage he grew up in, only for a growing war between the Yakuza in Okinawa and Tokyo to pull him back in.
Similar to Yakuza Kiwami 2, Kiwami 3 is a completely rebuilt version of the 2009 entry in the series, using RGG’s Dragon engine. The game will feature an expanded story, continuing threads that were added to the previous remakes, with Kazuma not having two fighting styles to cycle between, with one being a generational Okinawan martial arts style.
In addition to Yakuza Kiwami 3, this entry will feature a “new, never-before-seen story,” entitled Dark Tides, included with that base game. Players will take the role of Yakuza 3’s antagonist Yoshitaka Mine — chairman of the Hakuho Clan, and play through events prior to the events of the main game.
In addition to this news, several other entries in the series will be rereleased later this year as well. Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, which were previously announced for the Nintendo Switch 2, will both be released on November 13, 2025, for the platform. Both of these titles will then be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on December 8, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the series. Yakuza Kiwami 0: Director’s Cut, which was previously released on the Nintendo Switch 2 alongside the release of the console in June, will also be released for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC on December 8 as well.
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