>The Yakuza name is no more, as Sega plans to officially rebrand the series of crime dramas under the franchise name “Like a Dragon” moving forward — a move that became apparent with the reveal of three new games prior to this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Speaking to Digital Trends, a Sega of America representative confirmed the reason for the name change.
>“I can confirm the series will be known as “Like a Dragon” moving forward to more closely align with the Japanese name,” a representative for Sega of America tells Digital Trends.
>In Japan, Sega has called the series Ryū ga Gotoku since its inception in 2005, and that phrase is even the namesake of developer RGG Studio. “Ryū ga Gotoku” translates to “like a dragon” in English, but Sega decided to call the series Yakuza when it brought the first game to the West in 2006. Now that the series is more popular than ever and largely moved on from telling stories directly focused on the Yakuza, it makes sense for Sega to give the series a similar title in all regions. Sega localization producer Scott Strichart pointed out on Twitter that 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon foreshadowed the change by naming a chapter “Chapter 12: The End of Yakuza.” Strichart is not involved with the localization of upcoming Like a Dragon titles.
>Mad over a misguided attempt to brand the series as Japanese GTA when its literally nothing like that >Mad the name which is closer to the original Japanese meaning and term is used instead
Parker Green
why are Americans mad about this anyways? Always was Like a Dragon to us
That doesn't make sense. It's closer to Mafia than GTA in branding.
Logan Hill
>Yakuza 6 >Yakuza: Like a Dragon >Like a Dragon 8 Shit's all over the place. I fucking hate when a series is unable to have a clean, logical list of titles.
Joshua Campbell
That doesn't matter. Sega for years tried to sell Yakuza as GTA in japan. It didn't work. It wasn't until fucking Zero that Sega finally stopped being retarded and sold the series for what it really is. A fun ARPG beat-em-up with tons of side stuff and japanese drama storytelling
Ryder Martin
>EOP skill issue
Lucas Edwards
More mad that they don't have a clue what direction to take the series in. Real RE6 vibes here.
Brayden Hall
Good. The series finally reclaimed it's original Japanese title. I bet the same people that hate this decision are the ones saying the japanese dub is the only way to play.
Samuel Taylor
>Yakuza 6 >Yakuza Like a Dragon >Like a Dragon 8 Newcomers will be so confused lol.
Thomas Watson
Should have called 8 simply "Like A Dragon 2" with the original games staying Yakuza. That was you atleast know that it is the second game in the Ichiban Saga. Now they kinda have to go back and rename every game for it to make sense.
Zachary King
>source: my ass
Josiah Robinson
>finally get name recognition in America >immediately drop it and start the new name at 8 to dissuade window shoppers
Lucas Brown
>Like a Dragon As if that new name rolls off the tongue well.
Jace Allen
This. 8 will be the worst selling title in the series because of this. Should've just kept going with Yakuza: Like a Dragon 2.
Josiah Powell
They need to rename the older titles too, it's and easy fix.
Wyatt Ramirez
This is like how harvestmoon and story of season. Expect lost sales in Like a Dragon because it takes time for people to realize story of season is bokujou monogatari new localized name.
Angel Stewart
This. It's a huge mistake.
Ryder Smith
Like a Dragon 9: Yakuza Rescue Squad Like a Dragon 10: Kazuma's Swinging Report Show Like a Dragon 10: Part 2
Hunter Murphy
Like a Dragon Gaiden 2
Logan Phillips
Rike Dlagon
Owen Lee
No worries, as long the games are good.
I wish Konami could re-brand themselves out of pachinko slots too.
