The Yakuza studio, known primarily but not solely for the Yakuza series of games, made it very clear that Yakuza 6 would be Kazuma Kiryu’s last rodeo as a series protagonist. Last year, Sega revealed that Kasuga Ichiban, a wild-haired man with inverted colors to Kiryu, would be taking his place and would have his first introduction in an upcoming mobile game and PC game titled Yakuza Online, though details were scant.
At TGS, Sega finally elucidated a little on both the man who would replace Kiryu and the game that introduces him, giving us the first trailer of Yakuza Online. The first, a gameplay trailer, gives a little bit of Kasuga’s backstory as he is being arrested and imprisoned for a crime that he didn’t commit, which is familiar backstory to fans of the series. After getting out of jail, Kasuga discovers that the Omi Alliance has taken over Kamurocho and the Tojo Clan has basically been stomped out thanks to growing corruption in the police force and the lack of a certain Tojo problem solver. A former Tojo man himself, Kasuga is shocked to discover that the people he took the fall for all betrayed the Tojo and joined the Omi.
It also shows the various types of gameplay for the game. The title is a free-to-play gacha-style game focusing on random drops, but some degree of Yakuza’s storytelling and mechanics like talking to hostesses will be present. The game also features canon and non-canon guest appearances from the series.
In addition to that gameplay trailer, Sega also produced an obviously Japanese-language special video showing Kasuga and some of those guest characters. Don’t worry too much about how all of this fits into the timeline or where idol Haruka learned to fight, it’s all in good fun. The lone exception appears to be Akiyama, who seems to actually be a part of Kasuga’s story.
There’s no word yet on whether Yakuza Online will becoming to the west in any form. Presumably Sega is not going to completely ignore giving Kasuga his backstory when Yakuza 7 eventually rolls around for people who didn’t play the mobile game.
The Yakuza studio also recently announced another game, titled Project Judge, that is very similar to the Yakuza series. That game is indeed coming west and should keep fans satiated until the next Yakuza game is ready for primetime.
Source: Game Informer Yakuza Online Trailers Show Off New Series Protagonist