{"id":48473,"date":"2025-05-30T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=48473"},"modified":"2025-05-29T14:47:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T05:47:23","slug":"like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii-is-selling-better-overseas-than-in-japan-which-hasnt-been-the-case-for-past-games-in-the-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii-is-selling-better-overseas-than-in-japan-which-hasnt-been-the-case-for-past-games-in-the-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is selling better overseas than in Japan, which hasn\u2019t been the case for past games in the series\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been three months since RGG Studio released Infinite Wealth\u2019s pirate-themed spin-off Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.<\/strong> While post-launch concurrent player data and Sega\u2019s financial statements have suggested that the latest Yakuza game is doing well<\/a>, RGG Studio\u2019s director Masayoshi Yokoyama recently shared some new insights about the game’s performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking to Denfaminicogamer<\/a>, Yokoyama reveals that Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has been selling particularly well in Europe, and unlike the Like a Dragon series\u2019 past entries, it\u2019s actually doing better overseas than in Japan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Like<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last year, when RGG Studio celebrated Infinite Wealth becoming the franchise\u2019s fastest-selling title in history, Yokoyama highlighted the massive role domestic sales played<\/a>, commenting, \u201cThe game is incredibly strong in Japan. Sales in the rest of Asia are also quite strong, but the momentum in Japan is even greater than in the past.\u201d The release of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name the year before was followed by similar comments, with the developers describing domestic sales as \u201castonishing\u201d<\/a> and indicative of the series\u2019 popularity reigniting in Japan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it seems Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has turned this tendency around, with Europe and the UK in particular becoming a major contributor to sales. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s the influence of pirate culture or what, but the game is selling especially well in the UK. From our perspective, we didn\u2019t really set out to make a full-on pirate game \u2013 we simply saw it as making a Yakuza side story \u2013 but I think players saw it as a game belonging to the genre and appreciated that side of it,\u201d Yokoyama comments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Like<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The experience of making Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii \u2013 which is full of mechanics RGG Studio has never tackled before, as well as this positive response, have helped the developers realize how important it is for RGG Studio to keep trying new things. Yokoyama notes that, \u201cIn this sense, this title has become something that will likely influence our future projects.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii hasn\u2019t become a massive global blockbuster, it \u201cmanaged to greatly expand our possibilities even though there was a risk of it becoming a huge failure.\u201d In that regard, RGG Studio\u2019s director comments, \u201cI\u2019d say it was a major success.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related articles: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii director intentionally blocked out influence of Sea of Thieves and other naval games<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii devs didn\u2019t make an open-world sea to spare players from long and uneventful travel<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RGG Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama says Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii owes a majority of sales to overseas audiences, especially Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":48476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-48473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is selling better overseas than in Japan, which hasn\u2019t been the case for past games in the series\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RGG Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama says Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii owes a majority of sales to European audiences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii-is-selling-better-overseas-than-in-japan-which-hasnt-been-the-case-for-past-games-in-the-series\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is selling better overseas than in Japan, which hasn\u2019t been the case for past games in the series\u00a0 - 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