Like a Dragon: Ishin appears in the West because Ghost of Tsushima was successful
Not only were some brand new Yakuza titles announced at the RGG Summit, but also a release of Like a Dragon: Ishin for the west. The title was released in Japan back in 2014 and enjoyed some popularity there. However, Sega and RGG Studio doubted that the title would celebrate a similar success in the West. Due to the historical setting in Japan, the developers probably thought that players in the west would not be too interested in Ishin, which is why the title was simply not released here.
Ghost of Tsushima showed Sega that Like a Dragon: Ishin could be successful in the west
However, RGG Studio has now changed its mind, and RGG Studio Chief and Executive Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama explained exactly why in one go Interview with Fanbyte. There were probably a few different reasons why they decided to go for a western release after all, and one of them was the success of Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima (buy now ) from the year 2020.
“We saw how well Ghost of Tsushima was received and how it dealt with this very Japanese, American-made setting that we felt confident that Ishin could do well in America as well.”
Of course, the popular open-world title was not the only factor why Ishin will now appear with us. For example, Yokoyama also explained that Yakuza: Like a Dragon has attracted many new fans who haven’t played Like a Dragon: Ishin themselves. So it was just the right time to release the title now. By the way, Like a Dragon: Ishin is scheduled for release on February 21, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Reference-www.pcgames.de