Sega has officially dropped the Yakuza brand name and replaced it with Like a Dragon

Following news that Like a Dragon: Ishin is coming to the West, Sega has confirmed that it is officially dropping the Yakuza name from its fan-favorite RPG series.

This means that new upcoming games in what would have been the “Yakuza” series will instead carry the name “Like a Dragon”.

The confirmation comes from Sega, which confirmed to Kotaku that since the Like a Dragon brand is “more closely aligned with the Japanese name”, it is officially removing the Yakuza name from every new title going forward.

Sega recently announced that a Western version of the historic Yakuza spin-off, Like a Dragon: Ishin – which has been “rebuilt from the ground up” – will be coming to PS4 and PS5 next February. It was recently confirmed that it will only feature Japanese dubs.

Like a Dragon: Ishin was originally released for PlayStation 3 and PS4 in Japan as Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! in 2014, transplanting the chaotic Yakuza formula to the late Edo period for a historic slice of samurai action. It follows protagonist Sakamoto Ryōma as he returns home to Tosa where, after an altercation with a high-ranking samurai, he is sentenced to be executed.