Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega appear to have leaked confirmation of the rumored Yakuza Kiwami 3, suggesting an official announcement will be forthcoming soon. Users across Twitter and Reddit have been creating some buzz after they noticed traces of a Yakuza Kiwami 3 on the developer’s official website. This mention, which only referenced a third entry in the Yakuza remakes, has been removed since, but the internet being the internet, it has been screen-grabbed by several people.
Kiwami, meaning Extreme, Ultimate, or Peak, is the added title to the Yakuza games that have been remade so far, which only includes the first two games in the series. It is also the name of a Suntory BOSS coffee drink, for which the series has had a partnership for appearances. Yakuza Kiwami 1 was released in 2016, adding some content to the series after Yakuza 0 added narrative to the series, being a prequel to most of the series. While this used the original franchise’s classic engine, Yakuza Kiwami 2, released in 2017, used RGG’s new Dragon Engine, which completely revamped the physics.
While no official name has been given at this point, rumors had surfaced earlier this year that a remake of 3 in particular was in development. While 3, 4, and 5 were all rereleased following the release of both Kiwami Games, they were relatively basic ports of the PS3-era games. RGG is set to hold its yearly RGG Summit on September 24th, with an RGG Direct set to follow immediately after, so if an announcement is coming, this will most likely be the venue.
Like a Dragon series director Masayoshi Yokoyama has also commented on a Kiwami 3, back in April of last year. He stated fans should not get overly excited for the third game, as the studio is involved in several projects; he made a point to not take it off the table. Currently, RGG is developing Stranger Than Heaven, a new IP that isn’t fully related to the Like a Dragon series, though we will not know till 2026 if it does share a universe. RGG Studio usually develops two or three games at any point in time, with devs often bouncing between three projects regularly. Since we only have one public-facing project currently, it would make sense to announce a few, like a Kiwami 3, that are ready to be announced. The next entry in the Like A Dragon series also remains to be announced at this point.
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