Summary
Despite only having released on January 26,Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealthalready seems like a defining success for the franchise. The expansive content and high-stakes narrative of the title is obviously the source of a lot of its popularity, yet it also stems from a long and concerted effort by Ryu Ga Gotoku to firmly establish the series within Western audiences.
In this way, the success ofLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthcan be seen as the conclusion of a long and hard-fought battle by the studio to turn the franchise into a globally renowned experience. This effort from the studio involves English dubs and localization releases for pastLike a Dragongames, and it seems that Ryu Ga Gotoku finally has a firm foothold in the Western gaming industry going forward.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Success Has Been a Long Time Coming For Ryu Ga Gotoku
TheLike a Dragonfranchise, previously known asYakuza, first began in 2005, having gone on to involve nine mainline releases and a wide variety of well-received spin-off titles. Despite this long and rich history,Like a Dragononly really began to develop aserious following with Western audiences withYakuza 0, which itself was not released in the West until 2017, two years after its Japanese release date.
This difference in release times shows how Ryu Ga Gotoku was still focusing on its Japanese audienceduring the time ofYakuza 0’s release, but the prequel setting of the game made it an easy entry point to what is otherwise a narratively imposing franchise for newcomers. This led to an explosion of international popularity forLike a Dragonthat RGG has been following up on ever since. This is best evidenced in the shorter time periods between Japanese and Western releases for the franchise:
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Ryu Ga Gotoku Can Now Look to the Future After Infinite Wealth’s Success
Alongside the uniformity of modern releases for the franchise,Like a Dragonhas even begun offering dedicated English dubsfor its mainline games. BothYakuza: Like a DragonandInfinite Wealthhave English dubs as well as the spin-offJudgmentseries andLike a Dragon: Gaiden, reviving a tradition that has not been seen since the Western PS2 release of the firstYakuzain 2006.
Of course, RGG has made other efforts to make the franchise more globally accessible bylocalizing cult-classic spin-offs likeIshin, which were previously limited to Japan-only releases. Fans are hopeful of further localization releases for games likeKenzanandDead Souls, and the massive success ofInfinite Wealthhas made this a much more realistic prospect.
Already,Infinite Wealthhas reached an all-time concurrent player count of over 45,000 players, smashing the previous Steam record for the franchise. This success is partly due to the emotional importance of the game’s narrative and the scale of its setting, but it is more reflective of the massive effort that RGG has put into expanding the global outreach of the series as a whole.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
WHERE TO PLAY
EPIC EMOTIONAL DRAMATwo larger-than-life heroes brought together by the hand of fate, or perhaps something more sinister…Ichiban Kasuga, an unstoppable underdog who’s no stranger to crawling up from rock bottom, and Kazuma Kiryu, a broken man facing down his last days.BEST-IN-CLASS RPG ACTIONExperience one-of-a-kind combat with dynamic, fast-paced RPG battles where the battlefield becomes your weapon, and anything goes. Adapt your party’s skills to the situation with outlandish jobs and customizations to strategically subdue enemies with over-the-top moves.INFINITE ADVENTURELive it up in Japan and explore all that Hawaii has to offer in an adventure so big it spans the Pacific. Unforgettable moments await at every step of the journey with a unique mix of quests and activities to enjoy at your leisure.
