SEGA’S Yakuza franchise invites players into a gamified version of Japan’s most notorious criminal gang.
Here’s everything you need to know about the popular Japanese game series.
The series of Yakuza games has sold a combined total of 17million units in physical and digital sales since its debut in 2005
If you want to play Yakuza in order of release then you may need to dust off your old Playstation 2 – as the first two games in the series were made for this particular console.
However, due to the game’s popularity and evolving technology – fans can play Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 on both PS4, Xbox One and PC.
There are eight main games in the Yakuza series – not including spin-offs or re-releases.
Each game watches main character Kiryu grow and become a more experienced fighter, while learning new combat styles.
Yakuza games release order
- Yakuza (2006)
- Yakuza 2 (2008)
- Yakuza 3 (2010)
- Yakuza 4 (2011)
- Yakuza 5 (2015)
- Yakuza 0 (2017)
- Yakuza 6 (2018)
- Yakuza: Like A Dragon (2020)
Yakuza timeline order
- Dragon: Ishin! – set in the 1860s
- Yakuza 0 – set in 1988
- Yakuza Kiwami – set in 2005
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 – set in 2006
- Yakuza 3 – set in 2009
- Yakuza 4 – set in 2010
- Yakuza 5 – set in 2012
- Yakuza 6: The Song of Life – set in 2016
- Judgement – set in 2018
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon – set in 2019
- Lost Judgement – set in 2021
What other Yakuza games are there?
- Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011/2012)
- Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! (2014)
- Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (2018)
- Ryu ga Gotoku Online (2018)
- Judgement (2018/2019)
- Streets of Kamurocho (2020)
- Ryū ga Gotoku 1&2 HD for Wii U – (re-release 2013)
- Yakuza Kiwami (re-release 2017/2019/2020)
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 (re-release 2017/2018/2019/2020)
- The Yakuza Remastered Collection (re-release 2019/2021)
- Dragon: Ishin! (2023)
Alongside the eight main games in the series, over the years a number of spin-off games, re-releases and compilations have been released.
The first ever franchise spin off to be released was Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! – which was released in Japan and Asia in 2008.
Just a few years later Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō also known as Project K was released in 2010 – later a sequel Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura hen, was released in 2012.
After the success of the first few spin-off games, developers continued to add to the list – here’s the following spin-offs and re-releases in the series.
