Yakuza: Like a Dragon looks to be headed for Steam

Despite the Yakuza series' recent popularity, there aren't many Yakuza games on Steam: Just Yakuza 0 (which is excellent), Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2. Last summer, series producer Daisuke Sato hinted at possible PC releases of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5, which haven't actually happened yet. But it looks very much like Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, the most recent game, is headed to Steam.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon isn't listed on Steam yet, but it does now appear in SteamDB, which tracks games on the platform including those in a pre-release state. There's no information about a release date, but it's possible that it could come at the same time as, or very close to, the western PlayStation 4 launch. 

A date for that hasn't been set yet either—Yakuza: Like a Dragon was released in Japan in January, but a worldwide release date hasn't been announced. It could also mean that we might get our hands on the new Yakuza before the old ones.

However it ultimately works out, Yakuza: Like a Dragon represents a major change for the series, as the first to feature turn-based combat instead of traditional beat-em-up action, although there are apparently some real-time elements involved. The developers said last year that the change was made to help transform the game into an action-RPG rather than a conventional action-adventure.

And in case you're wondering what happened to the "7" in the title, it was dropped last year.

Thanks, Wario64.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.