Yakuza 8's full Western title will be 'Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.'
Last week, when Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio rolled out a new trailer for the next Yakuza game, there was some confusion as to what the game's actual title would be. It didn't really help matters that the name for the new game was written in purely Japanese for the Summer Game Fest 2023 audience, but now RGG Studio has stepped in to clear up the confusion.
Simply put, Yakuza 8's title will be Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in the West, and Ryu Ga Gotoku 8 in the East. The Eastern title isn't really a surprise - Ryu Ga Gotoku is what Yakuza has always been called in Japan - but RGG Studio is abandoning the numbered naming convention for the Yakuza series to draw in players who started with Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
We’d like to share a message from Masayoshi Yokoyama, Director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.Thank you for your continued support of the Like a Dragon franchise!We look forward to you playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.#LikeaDragon #InfiniteWealth pic.twitter.com/82045mugg4June 15, 2023
That's studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama's reasoning, at least. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it - Yakuza: Like a Dragon was the first mainline Yakuza game to ditch a numbered title, so reverting back to numbered titles in Yakuza 8 would potentially scare away a lot of players who aren't familiar with the older Kiryu-led games.
Additionally, the title seems like it'll set up one main theme of Like a Dragon: is there really such a thing as infinite wealth? Yakuza games have always dabbled in vast sums of money, whether it's Akiyama's origins or Nishiki losing his damn mind in Yakuza Kiwami, but it seems like someone's really going to have some dough to throw around in the new game.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is set to launch in early 2024, but before then, there's Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name arriving with Kiryu at the helm on November 9, 2023. It's likely RGG Studio will be showing off more of both games later today on June 15, when they hold their RGG Summit livestream event at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET.
Head over to our new games 2023 guide for a look at all the other games set to launch later this year.
