In a move that is bound to put shame on many Western video game developer studios, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has announced that due to the game’s development going so well, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will have its release date moved up by a full a week.
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In a recent video message to its fans, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed “We have decided to bring forward the release date by a week to February 21, 2025.”
“This is partly because development is progressing more smoothly than expected, but we also want to deliver the game to players around the world as soon as possible,” he said. “We wanted you to be able to play the game that comes after it with peace of mind.”
He also added, “If you are interested in pirates, but aren’t familiar with the series overall, please have a go. And after that, I hope you’ll also enjoy hunting at your own pace (a reference to the fact that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shared its original February 27th, 2025, release date with Capcom’s highly anticipated Monster Hunter: Wilds).”
And in helping to further excite players about Majima’s return, at the same time as Yokoyama”s release date update, the Xbox Partner Showcase hosted the reveal of the game’s newest trailer.
Focusing on the game’s naval battles, the trailer confirms that the aforementioned Yakuza icon will lean into his crazy side as he manages various bands of pirates, leads them through intense ship-to-ship combat, and takes part in sword fights on the open seas.
It also provides a better look at the game’s main premise, which sees an amnesiac Majima trying to overtake the pirate haven Madlantis by overthrowing its ruler Queen Michele.
However, while RGG Studio may have managed to dodge the bullet of squaring off directly with Monster Hunter: Wilds, this does not mean their next release will lack any significant competition.
In addition to the Capcom sequel, February 2025 is packed with a number of major game launches, including Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (set for February 11th), Assassin’s Creed Shadows (on track for its new date of February 14th), and Avowed (which comes out on February 18th).
That said, the game’s interesting pirate-themed premise and the loyal fan base of the Yakuza series should help it stand out among the crowd, in doing so hopefully helping it build upon the success of its predecessor Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which became the fastest-selling series entry to date after selling over a million copies in its first week on shelves.
What’s also noteworthy is the speed at which RGG Studio is delivering its games. Considering Infinite Wealth just launched this year, the studio’s ability to release another major title so soon is more than remarkable.
And it’s especially admirable given how many triple-A developers – particularly in the West – seem to be outright addicted to not only to multi-year dev cycles, but also using that time to only produce uninspiring and bug-infested content.
Take Sony’s Concord, which spent a reported eight years in development only to go down as one of the worst video game-related disasters in recent memory, or Ubisoft’s own pirate-themed adventure Skull and Bones, a “Quadruple-A” title whose eleven year dev cycle resulted in yet another critical and commercial failure for the flailing French studio.
After nearly a decade in production, Bioware’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard is finally set to release at the end of October, and all facts currently suggest that it will be a likewise miss with audiences.
While RGG Studio’s decision to move the release of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii up a week may be influenced by the new Monster Hunter sharing its original date, it nonetheless highlights the studio’s impressive talent and dedication to their craft.
Combined with the fact that the game will be longer than Infinite Wealth, and it’s clear that other developers – especially those in the West whose standards have slipped in recent years – can learn a few things from the team’s focus on delivering high-quality games.
