Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Yakuza 3: Dark Ties will come as a set, with Dark Ties focusing on Yoshitaka Mine's story.
After an accidental leak on the Ryu Ga Gotoku website earlier this week, speculation has now been confirmed at the RGG Summit during Tokyo Game Show 2025. RGG Studio officially announced Yakuza Kiwami 3, a full remake of Yakuza 3, while also marking 20 years of the Yakuza Like a Dragon series. An official trailer was also released in the livestream.
Masayoshi Yokoyama, executive producer of RGG Studio, shared most of the information about the remake.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 remake confirmed
Unlike a simple remaster, Yakuza Kiwami 3 has been rebuilt from the ground up using the Dragon Engine, first introduced in Yakuza 6. The remake will feature overhauled visuals, new gameplay features, and additional story scenes. Both Japanese and English voice acting have been confirmed.
The story continues to follow Kazuma Kiryu and is set primarily in Kamurocho, a fictionalised version of Tokyo’s Kabukicho district. A secondary location, Ryukyu in Naha, Okinawa, also returns from the original.
A major update in the remake is the casting of Japanese actor Teruyuki Kagawa as Go Hamazaki, replacing the original character model. Kagawa’s performance includes both voice work and facial capture, making Hamazaki more expressive and dynamic. Known for his work as a Kabuki actor, Kagawa introduced his role through a video message at the event.
Several voice actors also appeared during the reveal, including Takaya Kuroda (Kazuma Kiryu), Shido Nakamura (Yoshitaka Mine), Satoshi Tokushige (Daigo Dojima), and Ryo Ishibashi (Shigeru Nakahara). Additional cast members include Show Kasamatsu (Rikiya Shimabukuro) and Hiroyuki Miyasako (Tsuyoshi Kanda).
Yakuza 3: Dark Ties revealed as new story expansion
Alongside Kiwami 3, RGG Studio also revealed Yakuza 3: Dark Ties, a new Gaiden-style story centred on Yoshitaka Mine. A second trailer showed Mine as the playable protagonist, giving fans the opportunity to explore his rise from an ambitious business elite into the criminal underworld.
Director Masayoshi Yokoyama described the expansion as “the original story of Mine, antagonist of Kiryu in Yakuza 3. He is a business elite, and this tells the story of how he begins to step into the underworld, where schemes and bonds unfold.” He added that the setting will remain Kamurocho, with side activities highlighting Mine’s connections, including his bond with Kanda.
Dark Ties will be bundled directly into the Yakuza Kiwami 3 set, allowing players to choose between the remake or the Gaiden story from the main menu.
This announcement follows in the footsteps of Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, remakes of the first two Like a Dragon entries. Originally released in 2016 and 2017, those remakes were recently confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2 with a release date set for 13 November.
The Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Yakuza 3: Dark Ties set will be released on 12 February 2026 on Steam, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S.
