No more Yakuza remasters or remakes on the horizon, says series producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto

This week saw the release of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, an action-adventure video game from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio that remakes a Japan exclusive released in 2014. In recent years, the Japanese studio has released improved versions — both remasters and remakes — of the various games in the Yakuza saga. So, will they continue down that road, or is it time to embark on a new adventure?

The Spanish media website VidaExtra talked to Like a Dragon: Ishin! producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto, and has asked him about upcoming remakes or remasters. In the interview, the producer clarified that he is not currently thinking about developing new remasters or remakes. The reason is that, from the studio’s and the developers’ point of view, after putting so much effort and time into this remake, they should now look into making a new game and more titles for the future. This might lead one to speculate (and hope) that a ninth Yakuza is on the way.

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Additionally, Sakamoto explained why the studio decided to remaster Ishin! and not other titles in this interview. When the original game initially released, it was only available in Japan. The thought behind the studio at the time was that a game set in Japan with events about Japan would be a hard sell to overseas audiences.

Due to that mentality, Sakamoto feels that a lot of titles from the studio were missed opportunities. However, Sakamoto apparently heard the voice of many fans overseas, saying that the studio has “been listening to the fans who kept chanting ‘we want to play Ishin, we want to play Ishin,’ so that’s why we’ve given them a chance to play it now.” As a result, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio hired a localization team with a lot of experience accurately translating a game set in Japan during that kind of ancient era.