With the next installment in the series, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio will officially do away with the Yakuza name. The studio recently announced three new games, each of which distinctly lack the iconic 'Yakuza' name, instead using a translation of the traditional Japanese name of the series – Like a Dragon. According to producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, the studio did so because, "we are talking about [the] criminal underworld, but we're not talking about Yakuza".

Like a Dragon 8 has been announced, but we don't know much about the plot. However, in an interview compiled and translated by RGG fansite, Dojima's Dragon Girl, Yokoyama gave a brief glimpse of what the game could be based on.

"It’s not about the past characters, but rather about the “business”. The yakuza world and its necessary evils," he said. "They were all part of that world, and it contained all kinds of good and evil, didn’t it? That’s what the Ryu ga Gotoku series has been about all this time. In Ryu ga Gotoku 7, we showed you how the underworld lost its power, with the decline of Tojo Kai and the dissolution of the yakuza. As Ryu ga Gotoku 8 is the sequel to Ryu ga Gotoku 7, it will continue that story, and show you how the underworld moves on and cleans itself up."

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In another interview, Yokoyama also said that moving forward, there will be no streaming restrictions on the series. While he wasn't too happy with the decision because of the potential spoilers, he accepted that it is a necessity. "It’s because the times have changed. To be honest, it’s not like the restrictions stopped anything anyway, people always find a way, don’t they?" he said, following with a smoking related analogy.

"I said when we made 7 that we hoped it would be a game that would make people want to play it for themselves, even if they’d seen all the spoilers already. So I’ll be happy if there are people out there who think, “I watched the whole of 7 online, and it was great, so maybe I’ll buy 8 and play it myself.” In the end, the best entertainment isn’t watching, it’s playing it yourself."

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