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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii release date: Set sail for adventure in the Yakuza spin-off starring Mad Dog Majima

In a world with as many violent tonal shifts as Yakuza, it is only surprising that they haven't had a pirate game already.

Guides by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Tue Jan 21 2025

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The best thing about the Yakuza game series is that it can do just about anything and get away with it. It is a world where characters in a gritty crime drama will occasionally wander into a daycare for adult babies and no one bats an eye at the sudden shift in tone. That’s why it can include kart racing, business simulators, and, in a few weeks, a pirate-themed spin-off game. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is coming in February 2025 to scratch an itch we didn’t know we needed.

The latest spin-off of the Like a Dragon series (usually called Yakuza in the West) is Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, starring series mainstay Goro Majima as he loses his memories and finds himself leading a pirate crew. That sounds like an outlandish plot but it actually isn’t that out of character for “Mad Dog” Majima. He’s always been the one most likely to whip out a cutlass for no reason and start swinging it at enemies, so putting him on a pirate ship just makes sense.

Fans of the Like a Dragon series will be happy to know that one of the series’ signatures, the mini-games, is back for Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Karaoke, Crazy Delivery, and Dragon Kart are back to ensure that you spend dozens of hours not even touching the main quest. Because what is an RPG without endless mini-games to distract you?

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is set around six months after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and will be released on February 21, 2025 for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

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