Next-gen version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon is an Xbox Series X timed exclusive

Sega has confirmed that the next-gen version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be an Xbox Series X timed exclusive.

The game be released in the west for Xbox One, PS4 and PC in November 2020, with the Xbox Series X version set to be a console launch title this holiday season.

The PlayStation 5 version “will release at a later date”, Sega announced on Wednesday.

With the game set to support Smart Delivery, which will let players buy a title once and play it across Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the publisher said “a PlayStation 5 upgrade path is also being planned for the Western release and will be announced at a later date”.

Originally released for PS4 in Japan in January 2020, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is billed as “a complete reimagining of the franchise”, which debuted in 2005.

Introducing an RPG-style turn-based battle system, which is showcased in the newly released trailer at the top of this page, the game stars new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, a low-level yakuza member, and centres on his crew’s attempt to rise from rags to riches.

It was also revealed on Wednesday that the game’s English voice cast includes actor George Takei as powerful patriarch Masumi Arakawa, “whose dissolution of the Tojo Clan’s yakuza empire sets into motion the conflict at the heart of this complex, winding narrative”.

Further reading

Yakuza 7 has a JRPG battle system, but future games might not

Sega reveals new direction with 2020 PS4 release