For SEGA’s Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, 2023 has been a busy year. Earlier this year, the studio brought “Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Extreme” to multiple platforms and overseas markets, marking the first time this spinoff series had ventured into Western markets. Additionally, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is set to release the mainline sequel, “Yakuza 8,” next year, continuing the story of Kasuga Ichiban in Hawaii, scheduled for release on January 26th. However, the studio’s tasks for this year are not yet over, as we will see the release of “Yakuza 7 Spinoff” next week.
Just days before the launch of “Yakuza 7 Spinoff,” Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Supervisor Toshihiro Nagoshi revealed in an interview that, in the initial plans, “Yakuza 7 Spinoff” was intended to be released as DLC for “Yakuza 8.” Nagoshi also mentioned that “Yakuza 7 Spinoff” was developed in just a short six months, which is quite unusual in the realm of AAA game development.
However, “Yakuza 7 Spinoff” was originally conceived as a small DLC story, so a six-month development cycle was reasonable. Nagoshi explained that the development team could have simply used a small side story in “Yakuza 8” to inform players about the experiences and current situation of Kazuma Kiryu. Still, the ultimate goal was to introduce new players to the world and experiences of Kazuma Kiryu, making it more meaningful to release it as a standalone game. “Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Extreme,” “Yakuza 7 Spinoff,” and “Yakuza 8” were all developed simultaneously, and the latter two share the same game engine, which sped up development progress.
“Yakuza 7 Spinoff: Nameless Dragon” will officially launch on November 9th, arriving on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, XSX/S, and PC platforms.
