Ryu Ga Gotoku is already starting to work on the next game in the Like a Dragon series and hosting casting auditions for it. It’s not Yakuza Kiwami 3, but the studio is considering it for the future.
On the latest episode of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio TV, director Masayoshi Yokoyama clarified that while the next project isn’t Yakuza Kiwami 3, it’s still something the Ryu Ga Gotoku would like to tackle. He explained, “But I’m just going to say, I think we’ll do a Kiwami 3 at some point. I think we’ll definitely do it sooner or later.”
The auditions will be similar to the ones for 2023’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. In its cabaret club minigames, audition winners had their likeness implemented onto the actors of hostesses. In 2019’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, actress Eri Kamataki auditioned and won her respective contest and ended up being an optional party member players could recruit.
So far, Ryu Ga Gotoku has given the Kiwami remake treatment to the first two mainline Yakuza games. Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 have only gotten simple remasters for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Yakuza 3 was first released in 2009 for PlayStation 3. In GameSpot’s Yakuza 3 review, we said, “Yakuza 3’s compelling story, great atmosphere, and abundance of extracurricular activities make it the best game in the franchise so far.”