In the month of May, the CEO of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio shared an update on Yakuza 8, the new chapter of the sequel series of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, explaining that the development of the video game was proceeding quickly and that the work on the story was almost finished. Today, a series of images and development footage of the Yakuza 8 have appeared online. Check them out below.
First Yakuza 8 Images/Footage Revealed
In this recent hours, the Japanese magazine Famitsu has published a preview of some images of the new Yakuza 8 game, confirming the return of the protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and the two companions Namba and Kouichi Adachi, who most probably will support the former member of the clan Tojo also in this chapter.
At the moment, Famitsu only shared three screenshots taken during the studio tour, showing the three main characters of Yakuza: Like a Dragon arguing with each other. As per the images, it seems that the design used for Adachi and Namba is pretty much identical, while for Ichiban the afro hairstyle seems to have been removed in favor of a more classic cut with the hair tied up in a pigtail.
新作『龍が如く8』の未公開映像が格闘家・朝倉未来のYouTubeでチラ見せ。朝倉未来もゲーム内に出演決定！
『龍が如く8』の詳細発表前に異例の形で映像公開。映像にはナンバや足立さんらしき姿も。春日一番はアフロではなく、後ろで髪を縛った姿に!?
https://t.co/IZ6sEZI2dR pic.twitter.com/wREvVsRS2v— ファミ通.com (@famitsu) July 19, 2022
It is also worth mentioning that, in the magazine, it is also revealed that Yakuza 8 is a working name, and that martial artist Mikuru Asakura has been chosen to play as a character in this new story.
Unfortunately at the moment, this is the only information that we can get so far, but if nothing else, we now know with absolute certainty that the eighth chapter of the series will be set after the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, again with the main protagonist Ichiban Kasuga.
In the last couple of months, SEGA has stated that they wanted to show the Yakuza 8 game before the end of the year, so we can expect a new update in the coming months. As for the release, for now, everything seems to be on track for a launch in 2023, we will see if only on PC and next-gen or even on older generation consoles the title will release or not.
Here’s a video from Mikuru Asakura where you can see the development footage of the Yakuza 8 game (timestamp 9:58).